UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
AT  AMHERST 


UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

Special  Collections  &  Rare  Books 


ILLUSTRATED 

1896 


TRANSCRIPT   PUBLISHING   COMPANY, 

PRINTERS, 

HOLYOKE,   MASS. 


J.    STEVENS    ARMS    AND    TOOL    COMPANY,    CHICOPtE    FALLS. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Ames,  James  T.,  .... 

Ames,  Nathan  P.,      . 

Ames  Manufacturinc  Co.,  1828, 

Ames  Residence 

Eaii.ey,  Henry  A.  (Residence  of). 
Belcher  &  Taylor  Co.'s  Works,   . 

Bellamy,  Edward 

Blaisdell,  Mrs.  Samuel  (Residence  of), 

BoYNTON,  David, 

Carter,  Judge,  Place, 

Carter,  T.  W.,  Place, 

Casino  Auditorium,  . 

Casino,  Ver.\nus, 

Chapin  Homestead,  . 

Ch.apin  Inn, 

Chapin,  "Uncle"  Aitstin, 

Chase,  John  (Residence  of),  . 

Chicopee  (Along  The),    . 

Chicopee  Cemetery,  maple  Grove, 

Chicopee  Centre,  Front  Street,  . 

Chicopee  City  Hali 


66  Chicopee  City  H.\ll  M.\ix  Entrance, 

64  Chicopee  Falls,  Main  vStreet, 

65  Chicopee,  Front  Street, 
113  Chicopee  Meadows, 

57  Chicopee  River  and  Bridge,  . 

128  Chicopee  River,  Looking  South, 

109  Chicopee  Street  and  Farm  House, 

59  Chi'rch,  Baptist,  Centre, 
112  Church,  B.\pti.st,  Chicopee  F.^lls, 

41  Church,  Beul.ah,  Willim.\nsett, 

45  Church,  Episcopal,  . 

51  Church,  First  Congreg.\tional, 

50  Church,  French  Catholic,     . 

60  Church,  Holy  N.amp:  of  Jesus, 

18  Church,  M.  f;.,  Centre;,  . 

19  Church,  M.  E.,  Chicopee  Falls, 

67  Church,  Old  Presbyterian,  . 
90  Church,  Old  Unit.ari.^n, 

115  Church,  Third  Congregational, 

25  Club,  Boys,  .... 

84  Cumnock  Residence, 


86 
43 
25 
13 
16 
108 
89 

39 
3S 
79 
32 
20 

40 
40 
31 
31 
17 
30 
29 

.119-120 
117 


"DEESTRICT  SCHOOl.MARM," 

Fire  Department  (Members  of), 

Front  Street  (Group  on), 

Front  Street,  Looking  to  Blaisdell's 

Gavi.ord,  Emerson 

Havens,  J.  C 

Hoi.i.ow,  Johnnv-Cake,  Old  Hovse, 
Hoi.i.ow,  Johnnv-Cake,  Sinrise,    . 
Home  (A  "Skip"  )       .         .         .        . 

Home,  Pendleton 

House,  The  Judge  Wells, 
Inshaw,  Richard  B., 
Inshaw,  Richard  B.  ( Residence  of), 
"Knuckle  Down,"    .... 
Lamb  Mfg.  Co.'s  Works, 
LooKiNc;  Up  Hill  at  Depot,     . 

JLain  Street, 

Munger,  Hiram.         .... 
Neallv,  Mrs.  JLargaret  (  Residence 

Overm.vn,  a.  H 

OvERM.\N  Wheel  Co.  (Works  of), 
P.\GE,  T.  C.  (Residence  of),    . 
PvNCHON,  William,   .... 
Robinson,  ex-Gov.  George  D., 
Robinson,  ex-Gov.  George  D.  (  Reside 
Rollins,  Secret.arv,         ... 


Cornf;r 


of), 


P.\G  E . 

71 


88 

104 
92 

II 
II 
93 
74 
37 
62 

63 
33 
131 
54 
72 

52 

48 
124 
122 

47 
9 

98 

99 
118 


School,  .\lvorii 

School,  ("tRape  Street,  ... 
School  House,  First,  Willimansett, 

School,  Old  High 

Smith,  Ou-ARTus  JUDD,  ... 
Sp.aulding  &  Pepper  Co.'s  Works, 
Springfield  and  Fairview  Avenue, 

Ste.\rns,  George;  M 

Ste-\rns,  Georgic  M.  (  Residence  of), 
Stebbins,  Kra.stus,  Place, 
Stevens,  J.,  -\kms  and  Tool  Co.,     . 

STR.\ri'ON,  J.  B., 

Stratton.  J.  B.  (Residence  of),     . 

Snow,  Dexter 

Snow,  Dexter,  Place, 

Tavlor,  George:  S.,  . 

Taylor,  George  S.  (Residence  of), 

TOWNE,  O.  C 

Triumph  of  Immortality  Over  Death 
TuTTLE,  F.  E.  (Residence  of), 
Village,  North  of  River, 
Whittemore  Place, 

Willimansett 

Willimansett  JLain  Stref;t,  . 
Willimansett  Station,    . 
WooDWiirth,  a.  C     . 


PAGE. 

26 

24 
71 

22 

83 
134 

55 

lOI 

46 

53 

Frontispiece 
105 

70 
106 
107 

96 

35 
81 

125 
no 

87 
49 
69 

72 

73 

103 


The  publisher  feels  indebted  to  Chicopee  residents  who  have  assisted  in  furnishing  data  for  this  sketch  of 

the  city.     The  historical  papers  are  especially  appreciated.     Mr.  John  White,  city  clerk,  has  been  most  courteous  in 

giving  information,  and  the  support  of  the  manufacturers  of  Chicopee  Falls  has  made  the  production  of  this  fully 

illustrated  book  possible.     Though  millions  of  dollars  are  represented  in  the  manufacturing  interests  of  Chicopee 

Centre,  none  of  the  officials  had  any  interest  in  assisting  in  the  publication  of  a  book  showing  the  influence  of  the 

city  in  the  past  and  present  development  of  industrial  or  artistic  labor.     The  absence  of  any  "Centre"  manufacturers, 

therefore,  is  not  that  they  were  overlooked.     The  fine  photos  furnished  are  by  W.  J.  Wood,  of  Exchange  street, 

Chicopee  Centre.     The  engraving  is  by  the  Boston  Engraving  and  Mclndoe  Printing  Company,  and   Springfield 

Photo  Engraving. 

L.  L.  JOHNSON. 


OLD  CHICOPEE. 

fHICKKUPPY"  RIVER,  known  and  loved  by  the  Indians,  found  favor  with  the  first  white  settlers,  also,  and  on 
the  banks  of  this  stream  was  started  the  permanent  settlement  in  what  was  then  a  part  of  Springfield. 
William  Pynchon  may  be  called  the  father  of  the  town  as  a  whole,  for  in  1636  he  removed  from  Roxbury,  and  from 
that  time  left  his  impress  on  the  growth  and  life  of  the  young  settlement, 
(leographically,  the  present  city  of  Chicopee  occupies  the  north- 
western portion  of  Hampden  County  lying  west  of  the  Connecticut 
river,  and  is  separated  from  West  Springfield  by  the  same"  Long  river." 
Hadley  and  Granby  are  on  the  north,  Ludlow  on  the  east,  Springfield 
on  the  south.  The  Chicopee  river  enters  at  the  southeast  angle,  flows 
westerly  through  the  city  and  enters  the  Connecticut  river  at  the  south- 
east angle.  The  fall  of  this  river  is  70  feet,  furnishing  at  Chicopee  Falls 
and  at  the  Centre  vast  water  power,  used  for  manufacturing  purposes. 
The  mills  at  Chicopee  appropriate  36  feet  of  the  entire  fall,  and  at  the 
Falls  27  feet.  The  remainder  of  the  70  feet  is  above  the  village.  The 
soil  is  chiefly  a  sandy  loam,  suitable  for  fruit  growing.  There  is  to  day 
a  background  of  New  England  customs  and  ideas  which  force  the  re- 
tention of  a  part  of  the  city  as  a  strictly  Yankee  possession,  where  the 
thoughts  of  the  fathers  have  taken  such  firm  hold  that  the  influ.x  of  for- 
eign elements  has  been  powerless  to  dislodge  them.  A  walk  through 
the  lower  streets  of  the  old  town  forces  the  idea  upon  a  casual  visitor 
that  it  is  modern  in  all  its  details  and  entirely  given  up  to  manufacturing 
enterprise.  Go  up  some  of  the  hills,  or  take  the  "Springfield  road,"  and 
every  trace  of  crudeness  is  effaced.  These  houses  were  built  to  stay, 
and  they  have  carried  out  the  intention  of  their  builders.  Honest  they  are  from  roof  to  cellar.  Good  reliable  tim- 
ber forms  the  frame  work  of  some  which  have  stood  the  storms  of  a  century  at  least,  and  others  bear  the  marks  of 


WILLIAM    PYNCHON, 


much  longer  service.  The  oldest  of  the  old  is  the  house  in  "Johnny  Cake  Hollow,"  which  has  been  in  the  Snow 
family  for  many  years.  Sturdy  wooden  hinges  are  used  for  the  doors.  Nothing  frivolous  or  unstable  was  put  into 
this  antiquely  respectable  construction.  The  wavy  lines  of  the  roof  mean  not  weakness,  but  forced  submission,  a 
graceful  yielding  to  the  inevitable  march  of  years,  not  to  say  centuries.  Deeds  which  have  been  in  the  possession  of 
the  occupants  show  dates  of  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  these  do  not  reach  back  to  its  very  early  history  ;  it  had  a 
youthful  day  before  that.  It  seems  fitting  that  such  an  historical  dwelling  should  lead  a  quiet,  retired  existence,  and 
so  it  does.  It  is  located  in  one  of  the  easily  missed,  but  beautiful  places  of  picturesque  Chicopee,  or,  more  exactly 
speaking,  in  the  tenth  or  eleventh  ward  of  that  city.  ISecause  you  have  been  lucky  and  have  found  "  Johnny  Cake 
Hollow"  once,  it  is  no  sign  that  vou  will  ever  be  able  to  repeat  the  agreeable  experience.  It  is  like  an  oasis  dropped 
down  in  the  midst  of  that  barren  tract  known  locally  as  "  the  plains,"  the  distinctive  features  of  which  are  common  to 
all  parts  of  this  unsettled  territory,  one  place  resembling  another  to  the  perfection  of  duplication.  If  Mr.  Snow  is  not 
on  .some  of  his  out-lying  acres  he  will  show  you  over  the  house,  where  all  is  as  sedate  and  proper  as  it  should  be  in  a 
building  so  historically  beyond  reproach.  Mr.  Snow  lives  alone  and  apparently  enjoys  it.  After  showing  the  house, 
with  an  air  of  humble  apology  he  takes  you  to  the  shed.  This,  he  feels,  has  no  right  to  be  there,  for  it  is  not  more 
than  a  hundred  years  old  and  was  built  as  a  concession  to  modern  demands,  rather  than  an  improvement  to  the 
original  house.  Within  this  shelter  stands  a  large  barrel  of  corn  meal,  and  this  suggests  the  wish  to  know  why  this 
charming  place  should  have  been  given  so  prosaic  a  name.  The  host  laughs  and  tells  you  it  was  because  "  Johnny 
Cake  "  was  a  staple  article  of  diet,  and  also  because  corn  in  its  various  forms  was  the  food  best  suited  to  the  purses  of 
the  first  inhabitants.  Even  now  popping  corn,  the  best,  is  part  of  the  crop  from  which  Mr.  Snow  realizes  a  neat  sum 
yearly.  The  "  Hollow  "  is  a  delightful  surprise.  It  comes  when  one  is  tired  of  the  monotony  of  level  ground,  and  in 
comparison  is  like  a  piece  of  paradise  with  its  clear  flowing  stream  and  pleasant  fields.  "  .Sweet  fields  beyond  the 
swelling  flood  stand  dressed  in  living  green,"  quotes  the  poet  as  he  ascends  the  next  hill. 

This  old  house  might  have  been  standing  when  Deacon  Samuel  Chapin  bought  and  gave  to  two  of  his  boys, 
Joseph  and  Henry,  a  large  tract  of  land  in  what  is  now  Chicopee,  in  the  year  1646,  and  let  the  youngsters  go  to 
work  clearing  up  what  was  then  an  unbroken  wilderness.  In  the  good  Deacon's  family  were  four  sons  and  three 
daughters,  and  this  was  increased  when  the  sons  married  and  brought  home  wives.  Henry,  the  eldest,  married 
Bethia  Cooley,  daughter  of  ISenjamin  and  Sarah  Cooley,  of  f.ongmeadow,  and  their  marriage  festivities  were  cele- 
brated Dec.  5,  1664. 


Previous  to  his  marriage  Henry  Chapin  had  entered  into  this  contract  with  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield  : 

"  March  9,  1659,  sold  to  Henry  Chapin  200  acres  of  land  on  ye  Chickkuppy  river,  to  run  fro  ye  hills  on  ye 
east  side  to  the  Great  river  on  ye  west,  and  on  the  south  it  is  to  be  bounded  by  and  to  join  the  Chickkuppy  river  :  only 
one  twenty-five  acres,  or  thirty,  being  by  Chickkuppy  river,  about  the  place  which  shall  be  judged  best  for  a  ware- 
house, is  to  be  taken  out  and  excepted  out  of  the  parcel ;  yet  so  as  to  be  200  acres  is  to  be  made  up  there  together. 
Also,  Henry  is  to  have  half  of  ye  upper  Island,  which  is  to  be  as  equally  divided  as  can  be  ;  and,  also,  he  is  to  have 
five  acres  of  its  mowable  meadow  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Mux  meadow. 

"  For  all  which  he  is  to  pay  and  allow  me  the  sum  of  20  pounds,  in  wheat  at  current  prices,  at  four  several 
payments,  viz.  :  five  pounds  by  the  first  of  March,  1661,  and  another  five  pounds  in  1662,  and  the  last  five  pounds  ye 
first  of  March,  1663 — all  payments  to  be  in  wheat,  at  prices  current  at  the  several  times  of  payment.  This  is  the 
joint  agreement  betwixt  us  this  9th  day  of  March,  1659,  as  witness  our  hands.  Henrv  (jh.apix, 

John  Pynchon. 

"  Atemorandiivi — I  ])romised  Henry  that  if  I  did  part  with  the  25  acres,  or  30  acres,  or  with  the  Islands,  he 
should  have  the  offer  of  them." 

This  same  Henry  was  present  at  the  great  battle  with  the  Indians  at  Turner's  Falls  in  May,  1676,  and  this 
memorandum  of  the  event  was  in  an  old  account  book  : 

"  I  went  out  Voluntere  against  ingens  the  17  of  May,  1676,  and  we  ingaged  battle  the  19th  of  May,  in  the 
morning  before  sunrise,  and  made  great  spoil  upon  the  enemy,  and  came  off  the  same  day  with  the  Los  of  37  men  and 
the  Captain  Turner,  and  came  home  the  20th  of  May." 

Thomas  Chapin,  son  of  Japhet,  was  one  of  the  original  grantees  of  the  large  tract  of  land  allotted  in  1736  to 
the  officers  and  soldiers  concerned  in  this  battle  and  to  their  descendants.     This  tract  is  now  the  town  of  Bernardston. 

Though  Henry  Chapin  purchased  land  on  the  north  side  of  the  Chicopee  river,  he  built  his  house  on  the  south 
side,  on  the  north  side  of  what  is  now  Ferry  street,  at  its  junction  with  West  street,  in  the  village  of  Chicopee,  near 
the  large  elm.  This  house  was  burned  in  1762.  The  house  formerly  owned  and  occupied  by  William  Chapin,  one 
of  Henry's  descendants,  was  on  nearly  the  same  ground.  He  was  a  prominent  man  connected  with  town  alfairs,  and 
representative  to  the  General  Court  in  1689. 

12 


CHICOPEE   MEADOVVo. 


An  old  story  has  it  that  he  was  impressed  into  the  liritish  service  on  board  a  man-of-war,  and  there  remained 
seven  years,  during  this  time  engaging  with  the  1  Jutch  in  naval  combat. 

He  afterward  commanded  a  merchantman,  and  made  several  voyages  between  Boston  and  London,  and  finally 
settled  in  the  former  city.  From  there  he  went  to  Springfield  in  1659,  or  near  that  time,  and  then  purchased  land  in 
Chicopee. 

Following  these  two  main  lines  of  the  Chapin  family  we  find  that  Henry  died  .Uigust  15,  1718,  Bethia  his 
wife  on  December   11,    1711.     Their  children  were  Henry,  born  June   i,    1666,  died  April  29,  1667;  Sarah,  born 

March   3,    1670,  died   November  6,    173:;,  never  married:   Bethia,  born   February   19,    1672,  died   ;    Henry, 

born  March  9,  1679,  died  September  15,  1754  ;  and  Benjamin,  born  February  2,  i6S2,died  March  27,  1756.  Japhet 
was  born  in  1642,  the  same  year  his  parents  removed  to  Springfield.  July  22,  1664,  he  married  Abilenah,  daughter 
of  Samuel  Conley,  of  Milford.  She  died  November  17,  1710,  and  was  buried  in  the  old  burying  ground  at  Spring- 
field, where  a  stone  marks  her  grave.  He  afterwards  married  Dorothy  Root  of  Enfield,  Conn.,  who  survived  him. 
He  died  February  20,  1712,  and  was  buried  beside  his  first  wife.  March  9,  1666,  Deacon  Samuel  Chapin  purchased 
of  lohn  Pynchon  a  tract  of  land  which  included  most  of  the  river  flats  lying  between  the  ''  Chickuppee  "  river  and 
"  Willimansick  "  brooks  ;  and  April  16,  1693,  his  father  conveyed  to  Henry  a  large  part  of  the  land  so  purchased.  He 
probably  removed  from  Milford  as  early  as  1666,  and  joined  his  brother  in  the  wilderness.  He  built  a  house  at  what 
is  the  end  of  Chicopee  street,  a  little  north  and  west  of  the  house  owned  by  Joel  Baker,  where  is  had  a  charming  \iew 
of  the  great  river  and  hills  beyond. 

Japhet  had  nine  children,  the  eight  sons  of  Japhet  and  Henry  each  had  large  families  aggregating  eighty- 
seven  grandchildren,  and  the  eight  men  died  at  an  average  of  eighty  years.  The  times  in  which  the  Chapins  settled 
in  the  wilderness  tried  men's  souls  and  only  the  sturdy  material  of  which  the  pioneers  were  made,  animated  by  brave 
hearts,  could  have  withstood  the  trying  days  and  nights  of  fear.  At  the  time  Japhet  and  Henry  settled  here,  the 
Indians  had  become  hostile  and  were  a  constant  source  of  alarm.  The  white  men  continually  carried  arms,  even 
when  they  attended  divine  service  in  the  "meeting  house."  To  reach  this  building  there  was  no  royal  road,  but  a 
track  through  the  wilderness  where  streams  which  had  to  be  forded  were  frequent  incidents,  for  the  nearest  church 
was  si.x  miles  distant.  The  massacre  at  Deerfield  in  1704  was  the  culminating  point,  the  natural  outcome  of  the 
hostile  feeling  indulged  by  the  Indians,  until,  no  longer  capable  of  the  semblance  of  control,  it  burst  into  fearful 
atrocities  at  Deerfield.     It  is  related  of  Hannah,  second  daughter  of  Japhet  Chapin,  and  who  married  John  Sheldon 

14 


in  December,  1703,  that  on  the  night  of  that  memorable  attack  at  Deeriield,  she  jumped  from  a  window  for  safety, 
but  having  sprained  an  ankle  was  captured  and  with  eleven  other  captives,  among  them  John  Williams  and  family, 
she  was  taken  to  Canada  and  after  two  years  redeemed. 

An  illustration  of  the  fervent  religious  spirit  of  this  time  is  found  in  a  letter  written  by  Josiah  to  Japhet  Chapin 
at  the  time  of  Hannah's  capture  : 

"  Mendon,  April  8,  1 704. 

"  Deare  Brother  : — I  cannot  with  my  pen  express  the  concernedness  of  sperit  that  is  in  me  for  you  and  my 
dere  cusen  that  is  led  captive  by  the  barbarous  heathen.  God  is  by  such  dispensation  trying  the  faith  and  patience 
of  His  children ;  it  is  therefore  my  dayly  request  that  God  will  support  her  in  body  and  sperit,  and  her  bodely 
captivity  may  prove  to  her  speretual  enlargement,  and  that  God  will  please  give  you  comfort  in  hope,  knowing  that 
God  is  able  to  find  out  a  way  for  escape,  tho  no  way  appears  to  us."  The  letter  closes  with  assurances  of  love  and 
sympathy,  but  not  a  word  of  complaint  at  the  dealings  of  Providence. 

The  first  cultivation  of  the  land  was  begun  in  1645,  o"  '^^  south  side  of  the  river,  and  in  1750,  the  first  parish  of 
Springfield  being  about  to  build  a  new  meeting  house,  the  peo]jle  in  the  north  side  of  the  town  on  both  sides  of  the 
Connecticut  river  were  incorporated  into  a  separate  parish,  called  Fifth  Parish  or  Chicopee.  The  general  boundary 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Connecticut  river  was  the  Chicopee  river. 

The  settlement  of  "  Skipmuck,"  about  a  mile  east  of  Chicopee  Falls,  began  first  in  1660  and  for  the  most  part 
was  on  the  south  side  of  Chicopee  river.  The  most  prominent  settlers  in  this  part  of  the  town  wtre  Stephen  Horton, 
Gad  Horton,  Phineas  Steadman,  Ariel  Cooley,  Dudley  Wade  and  a  few  others,  whose  names  are  not  recorded.  They 
were  often  annoyed  by  the  Indians  and  were  frequently  driven  to  the  old  fort  at  Springfield  for  refuge.  Several 
inhabitants  were  at  one  time  captured  but  no  trace  of  them  could  be  found.  It  was  a  favorite  pastime  of  the  red 
men  to  ambush  on  "  Sand  Hill  "  and  pick  off  the  white  settlers  as  they  appeared  on  the  opposite  bank.  Ariel  Cooley, 
a  man  of  considerable  worth  and  notable  characteristics,  settled  first  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  He  was  a  con- 
tractor on  the  Fairmount  water  works,  Philadelphia,  and  the  original  proprietor  of  the  lock  and  canals  at  South 
Hadley  Falls.  Caleb  Wright  is  said  to  have  built  a  house  upon  the  upper  terrace  at  Skipmuck  in  or  near  the  year 
1704.  A  story  told  of  the  time  says  that  the  Indians  surrounded  the  place  one  night,  took  Mrs.  Wright  prisoner  and 
scalped  or  partly  scalped  a  child  lying  in  the  cradle.  Moreover,  that  this  child,  Hannah,  recovered  and  lived  to  a 
good  old  age.     Mr.  Wright  then  moved  to  Chicopee  street,  where  the  Chapins  had  settled,  and  put  up  a  cabin  first 

15 


south  of  the  old  cemeter)-.      In  Dr.  Holland's  version  of  the  Wright  difficulties  of  1708  he  says  that   Indians  attacked 

the  house  of    Lieutenant  Wright  at  Skipmuck,  killed    "old  Mr.  Wright,"  took  Henry  Wright's  wife  captive  and 

probablv  killeil  her       In  1665  Rowland  Thomas  and  Nathaniel    l-',lv  laid  out  a  highway  at  what  is  now  the  centre   of 

_  _  ^      Chicopee,  they  having  owned  land  on  the 

south  side  of  the  river  as  early  as  1664,  as 
shown  by  documents  in  the  possession  of 
the  \'an  Horn  family.  The  ford  was  at  that 
part  of  the  river  where  the  I) wight  mills  and 
grist  mill  of  Edward  Wood  afterward  stood, 
liorn  Van  Horn  setttled  in  Springfield 
as  early  as  1713,  probably  some  time  before. 
Because  of  a  highway  dividing  his  land,  the 
same  having  been  opened  since  his  acquire- 
ment of  the  property,  the  "  Proprietors  of 
ye  Inward  Commons,"  granted  him,  "  March 
22,  1713-14"  another  such  piece  in  e.\- 
change  as  "  would  for  conveniency  bring  his 
land  together."  They  subse(|uently  granted 
him,  "  [anuary  22,  .\no  l)om.,  171S-19,  one 
or  two  acres  of  land  lying  between  Thomas 
Tery's  Home  Lot  and  the  Hill  for  a  home 
lot."  On  the  back  of  this  instrument  is 
written  this  curious  prescription  :  "  dive  a 
portian  of  the  Reeti  Root  every  morning 
for  3  mornings  going  ;  every  night  going  to 
bed  give  him  2  or  3  spoonfuls  of  black  water  according  as  he  can  bear  ;  on  or  about  11  or  12  o'clock,  in  the  day, 
give  him  a  portian  of  Tumeric,  about  as  much  as  will  ly  one  a  Shilling  at  a  Time,  and  wash  it  down  with  a  Decoction 
of  agrimony,  Elder-blooming,  or  Hysop."     How  many  li\es  were  preserved  by  using  this  formula  is  not  recorded. 

16 


RIDGE   ACROSS    CHICOPEE   RIVER. 


The  family  of  Born  Van  Horn  probably  settled  at  what  is  now  designated  as  Chicopee  Falls  as  early  as  i  739-40. 
Summer  \'an  Horn  has  carefully  preserved  an  original  document,  4x8  inches,  which  reads  thus  : 

"Springfield,  March  17th,  1742-3. 
"Of  the  Proprietors  Pursuent  to  a  Grant  of  the  common  land  in  Springfield,  IVIarch  iSth,  1739-40,  laid  out  to 
Born  Van  Horn,  of  Springfield,  27  acres  &  1-2  of  Land  in  the  East  Precinct  in  said  town,  equil  in  value  to  8  acres  of 
the  land  at  (loose  Pond,  as  mentioned  in  said  Grant, 
Lying  in  two  Pieces;  one  contains  2  1-2  acres,  &  is 
bounded,  as  follows  :" 

'Phe  document  then  gives  the  boundary  lines, 
and  is  signed  by  the  committee— Eben  Hitchcock, 
Josiah  Day  and  John  Munn. 

Azariah  Van  Horn  was  a  surveyor  of  highways 
in  the  town  of  Springfield  in  1770.  His  district  em- 
braced the  territory  south  of  Chicopee  river,  including 
the  present  sites  of  Chicopee  and    Chicopee  Falls. 

Ariel  Cooley,  Sr.,  settled  near  Chicopee  Falls 
before  1786.  In  this  year  he  conveyed  lands  to 
Byers  and  Smith.  He  owned  large  tracts  within  the 
town,  and  had  numerous  descendants.  "  Cooley 
Brook"  derives  its  name  from  this  family,  but  few 
descendants  bearing  the  name  of  Cooley  live  in  this 
vicinity.  'Phe  first  dwelling  of  which  any  account 
remains  was  that  erected  by  Henry  Chapin,  and  the  tavern  left  no  positive  evidence  of  its  origin.  The  inn  described 
as  standing  at  the  north  end  of  Chicopee  street  and  that  occupied  by  Japhet  Chapin  on  Springfield  street  were  both 
of  uncertain  origin.     It  is  safe  to  divide  honors  between  them. 

Many  and  very  pleasant  are  the  reminiscences  of  the  Chapin  Inn,  for  many  remember  "Uncle  Austin"  and 
his  kindly  hospitality,  and  who  finally  took  in  his  sign  when  the  typhus  fever  raged  in  the  village.     There  were  several 


OLD   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 


17 


! 


■jIm 


ry 


II I 


X^fV 


HII 


?T?Tfir»-*"  -" 


THE   CHAPIN    INN,    "TODDY    ROAD' 
l8 


hungry 


members  of  the  Chapin  family  ill  when  Captain  Moore  came  up  the  street  with  his  men  fresh  from  rafting  and 

as  pirates,  and  fairly  longing  for  the  hospitable  welcome  which 

was  a  part  of  "  Uncle  Austin's  "  mission  as  innkeeper.     From 

the  open  door  came  a  voice,  for  the  first  time,  discouraging 

the  wanderers.     They  were  not  to  enjoy  the  old  inn's  comforts 

that  night.     "  If  you  knew  how  sick   my   family   were,    you 

would  not  ask  it.   Captain  Moore,"  said  Mr.  Chapin.     "  We 

cannot  entertain  you  to-day,  nor  to-morrow,  unless  there  is 

a  change  for  the  better."     In  vain  the  men  urged  that  they 

would  be  satisfied  with  bread  and  milk.      They  finally  left, 

and  returned  next  morning  to  find  the  house  closed,  the  sign 

taken  down,  and  "  Uncle  Austin's  "  days  of  tavern  keeping 

were   over.      After  the  death   of    one   of  the  daughters   Mr. 

Chapin  had  no  heart  in  his  work,  and  during  the  last  years 

of   his   life    was    unable  to  keep   open   house.     The   picture 

presented  was   taken  when  he  was  in  failing  health,  but  is 

considered  a  very  faithful  portrait.     The    hotel   was    burned 

in  1S72,  when  unoccuijied,  the  fire  i)robably  originating  in 

one  of  the  sheds. 

All  through  the  history  of  Chicopee  are  found  friendly 
allusions  to  the  old  hotel  and  the  good  times  enjoyed  there. 
It  is  recollected  that  great  feasts  were  served  on  July  4th,  and 
so  fervent  was  the  celebration  one  year  that  the  glass  was 
broken  and  shaken  from  the  window  frames  by  the  force  of 
the  cannon  salutes  fired  in  honor  of  the  day. 

Japhet  Chapin,  born  in  1750,  married  Lorena  Wright, 
and  their  family  was  made  up  often  children,  Olive  Whitfield,  "uncle"  Austin  chapin. 

Japhet,    Atlas,    Pliny,    Francis,  Austin,    Veranus,  Sidney    and    Milton.       Olive,    the    only    daughter,    died    at    the 


'9 


age  of  2iS  years.  Whitfield  was  the  father  of  eight  children,  among  them  the  late  Charles  ().  Chapin,  a  man  much 
respected  in  Springfield,  where  he  lived,  and  Elizabeth,  beloved  wife  of  the  late  J.  (1.  Holland.  Japhet  died  early  in 
life.  Atlas  Chapin  had  three  children;  one  only  survived,  Mrs.  Chandler,  of  Springfield,  Mass.  Pliny  had  six 
children,  one  only  li\ing.  Francis  Chapin  had  several  children,  none  living.  Austin  Chapin  2d  was  born  in  1798, 
and  died  in  1S63.  He  was  instrumental  in  building  up  that  ])ortion  of  the  town  known  as  Cabotville.  He  held 
many  important  offices,  viz.  :    School  Commissioner,  Selectman,  Highway  Surveyor,  'I'ax  Collector,  and  at  37  years  of 

age,  when  the  village  was  part  of  Springfield,  he  was 
^ent  as  Representati\e  to  Boston.  This  was  the  year 
when  Edward  P^verett  was  (iovernor  of  Massachusetts. 
.Many  cases  were  tried  by  the  late  Judge  John  Wells 
liefore  Austin  Chapin  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  at  the 
house  where  the  latter  made  his  home  for  nearly  sixty 
years.  He  was  the  father  of  six  children,  three  living  : 
Margaret  M.  Nealley,  residing  on  a  part  of  the  home- 
stead. Spruce  street ;  Henry  M.,  li\  ing  in  ISoston,  Mass., 
and  Elizabeth  M.  Denison,  of  Springfield. 

Veranus  Chapin  lived  on  land  opposite  Austin, 
where  now  is  a  prosjierous  settlement  built  up  by  Tukle 
and  Humphrey.  Dea.  Sidney  Chapin  was  the  father 
of  four  children,  one  only  li\ing  at  the  old  home  in 
Chicopee  street.  Milton  had  three  children.  A  son  in 
Brooklyn,   N.  V.,  and  Mrs.   Ellen  Flagg,  in  \\'ashington, 

FIRST   CONGREGAT  0:;AL   C'-_..:,!.  |).  C.,SUrvive. 

In  connection  with  the  schools  of  the  town  the  following  paper  has  been  kindly  furnished  by  Miss  .\deline  Iv 
Howard.  It  is  fair  to  say  that  it  was  not  written  for  this  sketch  of  Chii.opee,  but  was  read  in  the  Third  Congrega- 
tional chapel  May  30,  1892,  with  others  by  the  ladies  of  the  church,  some  of  which  have  been  kindly  furnished  to  the 
publisher  of  this  book. 


OUR  SCHOOLS,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

We  find  early  mention  of  schools  in  connection  with  Springfield.  In  1654  "  a  tract  of  land  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Great  river  was  appropriated  by  the  town,  either  for  the  helping  to  maintain  a  school,  or  to  bear  any  other 
town  charges."  This  land  was  let  out  and  the  income  expended  for  schooling.  In  1677  William  Madison  was  hired 
as  a  schoolmaster  and  was  to  receive  three  pence  per  week  of  those  whom  he  taught  to  read  and  four  pence  of  those 
whom  he  taught  both  to  read  and  write,  the  parents  and  persons  being  to  allow  not  more,  but  for  his  encouragement 
for  that  year  he  was  to  be  allowed  the  rent  of  the  town  lands  at  Chicopee. 

The  first  schoolhouse  ir.  Springfield  was  built  in  1679,  and  was  22  by  17  feet.  In  1682  the  selectmen  agreed 
with  (loodwife  Merrick  to  teach  children  to  read,  she  receiving  three  pence  per  week  for  each  child. 

The  defect  in  common  school  education  for  the  first  forty  or  fifty  years  was  very  apparent  in  the  number  of 
persons  who  could  not  write  their  names  and  the  very  large  number  of  bad  writers  and  sDellers,''Miles  Morgan,  whose 
statue  adorns  Court  Square,  not  being  able  to  write,  but  making  his  mark,  which  was  an  anchor.  From  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century  the  interest  increased  rapidly. 

The  first  school  started  in  Chicopee  was  in  a  log  house  which  stood  where  Mrs.  Ames  now  lives,  kept  by  a 
man  named  Shevoy,  who  was  a  minister  and  preached  to  the  settlers  on  this  side  of  the  river.  It  was  said  that  he  was 
a  good  mathematician  and  gave  out  all  the  problems  from  memory,  as  there  was  no  arithmetic  in  the  school  at  that  time. 

The  first  schoolhouse  in  town  was  built  on  South  street,  a  little  west  of  the  brook.  It  had  but  one  room  with  a 
large  fireplace  in  one  end  that  would  hold  wood  enough  to  last  a  stove  a  week.  The  scholars  cut  all  the  wood  and 
made  the  fires.  About  1812  a  new  schoolhouse  was  built  on  South  street  at  its  junction  with  Springfield  street,  stand- 
ing nearly  where  the  pumping  station  now  stands,  but  facing  south.  The  chimney  was  a  monstrous  affair,  and  many 
were  the  logs  carried  in  by  the  boys.  This  house  was  used  for  many  years.  The  teachers  were  paid  from  ^8  to  Si  7 
per  month.  Coijies  in  writing  were  set  and  goose  quill  pens  made  by  the  teacher  until  the  scholars  had  learned  the 
art.  Miss  Elizabeth  Southworth  taught  here  with  skill  and  ability  soon  after  the  mills  were  started,  when  the  scattered 
settlers  were  formed  into  the  village  of  Cabotville.  Here  the  boys  and  girls  sought  knowledge.  Here  studied  the 
Mosman  brothers  and  Stewart  Chase,  Mary  Chase  and  Margaret  Chapin.  The  boys  and  girls,  with  one  exception, 
went  their  several  ways  with  only  memories  of  their  former  teacher,  but  one,  Mr.  George  Mosman,  remained  beside 
her  to  still  enjoy  her  companionship.     He  has  but  recently  left  us  to  join  that  great  company  whom  no  man  can  num- 


her.  The  old  buikiing  has  never  lost  its  interest  for  me,  as  there  I  received  my  first  and  only  public  chastisement  at 
the  hands  of  a  primary  school  teacher,  which  punishment,  as  has  been  the  case  with  all  children  from  time  immemo- 
rial, I  i/idn't  deserve.  This  building  was  removed  in  1861  or  '62,  and,  having  been  renovated  and  reconstructed,  is 
now  occupied  by  Mr.  Terrence  Hogan  on  Centre  street. 

A  schoolhouse  was  erected  at  Skipmuck  as  early  as  1S12.       It  was  20  x  30  feet,  inclosed  by  rough  clapboards, 
had  two  small  windows  and  a  huge  fireplace.     The  seniors  had  wide  boards  for  desks,  placed  against  the  sides  of  the 

room  at  a  proper  angle,  and  in  front  of  these  were 
three  long  seats  with  legs  like  a  milking  stool.  Their 
horizon  was  more  limited  than  that  of  the  younger 
ones  who  occupied  similar  benches  in  the  centre 
of  the  room.  'V\\e  schoolhouse  at  Chicopee  street 
was  the  largest  in  town,  and  stood  a  little  south 
of  the  church  near  where  Mrs.  Palmer's  house 
now  stands.  This  building  had  two  rooms.  In 
1S25  a  brick  schoolhouse  was  erected  where  the 
present  building  now  stands  on  Church  street  at 
the  Falls.  In  1845  it  was  replaced  by  the  present 
one.  There  Clossen  Pendleton  and  I  )r.  .Mvord  taught. 
Mr.  llildad  P..  Belcher  taught  on  the  north  side  of  the 
ri\  er. 

The  best  building  in  town  for  a  long  time  was 
the  one  on  Springfield  street  at  the  Falls,  which 
was  erected  in  1875  and  1876.  The  building  is  now 
to  be  used  for  other  than  educational  purposes,  as  the  manufacture  of  bicycles  in  its  immediate  neighborhood  so 
interferes  with  the  progress  of  education  and  the  harmony  of  ideas,  that  the  teachers  wish  either  that  they  had 
never  been  born,  or  that  the  bicycle  had  never  been  invented.  In  1834,  the  brick  schoolhouse  on  School  street 
was  built  at  a  cost  of  $-2,000.  It  served  as  a  place  for  both  secular  and  religious  instruction,  being  used  on  Sunday 
as  a  place  of  worship.     Many  of  us  had  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  old  building,  having  trod  those  halls  of 


OLD    HIGH    SCHOOL. 


learning  in  childhood's  days.     It  served  its  day  and  generation  well,  and  like  the  schoolhouse  of  our  Quaker  poet's 
childhood,  displayed  within  : 

**  The  warping  floor :   the  battered  seats : 
The  jack-knife's  carved  initial; 
With  many  frescos  on  the  walls; 
Its  door's  worn  sill  betraying, 
The  feet  that  creeping  slow  to  school 
Went  storming  out  to  playing." 

This  building  was  torn  down  in  '75,  and  the  present  one  erected.  The  old  high  school  building  on  Grape 
street  was  built  in  1S42.  Mr.  N.  P.  Ames  gave  the  bell  (tradition  says  "a  fine-toned  bell  "),  and  Mr.  John  Chase 
gave  a  thousand  dollars  toward  the  cost  of  the  building.  'Hie  basement  was  fitted  up  as  a  primary  school  and  in 
that  subterranean  spot  Miss  Mary  Ann  Fitz  was  said  to  teach  the  "  Model  School."  'J'he  upper  floors  have  been 
somewhat  modified  in  recent  years,  and  all  the  rooms  are  now  large  and  pleasant.  Other  schoolhouses  than  those 
mentioned  were  erected  as  necessity  demanded,  the  last  being  the  new  high  school  building,  of  which  the  city  is 
justly  proud.  Years  ago  a  school  was  kept  in  Mechanics'  Hall,  which  was  the  upper  story  of  an  old  building  which 
stood  where  H.  S.  Martin's  furniture  rooms  now  stand.  There  the  sister  of  one  of  our  ladies  was  sent  at  the  tender 
age  of  three  years  because  she  plagued  the  baby  at  home.  A  very  select  school  was  kept  in  the  vestry  of  the  old 
Congregational  church,  by  Mr.  Granger,  who  walked  with  a  crutch.  This  crutch  was  heard  from  if  the  children  were 
unruly,  and  now  the  thought  of  the  old  teacher  always  brings  with  it  the  thought  of  the  old  crutch. 

While  seeking  to  gain  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  three  R's  in  the  day  schools,  music  was  not  neglected  by 
those  who  had  an  opportunity  to  cultivate  their  voices,  Mr.  Reed,  a  music  teacher,  being  quite  an  institution  in  town. 
He  held  singing  schools  in  the  Congregational  vestry,  which  was  filled  with  eager  learners  of  the  divine  art  As  Mr 
Reed  led  the  choir,  and  filled  it  from  the  ranks  of  his  school,  if  one  did  well  he  had  some  hope  of  being  advanced  to 
a  position  in  the  choir. 

The  modes  of  punishment  in  the  early  days  were  unique,  a  remedy  applied  for  the  prevention  of  whispering 
being  a  short  wedge  inserted  between  the  upper  and  lower  teeth,  thus  keeping  the  mouth  open.  For  restlessness  a 
book  was  placed  on  the  head.  The  child  was  expected  to  remain  motionless,  so  that  the  book  might  not  fall.  In 
my  mother's  school  days  a  child  was  sometimes  obliged  to  stoop  over  and  hold  his  finger  on  a  crack  in  the  floor  for  a 
specified  time.  A  more  severe  form  of  the  same  punishment  was  to  require  the  pupil  to  stand  on  o?ie  foot  only  and 
hold  down  a  nail  in  the  floor,  and  if  the  teacher  felt  so  disposed  he  would  step  to  the  rear  of  the  child  and  lay  on  the 

23 


ruler  with  no  gentle  hand.  Sometimes  the  pupil  must  hold  several  heavy  books  on  the  palm  of  his  hand,  extended  at 
arm's  length.  Gradually  the  arm  would  relax  and  droop  lower,  when  the  teacher  would  give  a  whack  on  the  elbow 
with  her  ruler.     A  favorite  and  effective  punishment  for  bad  boys  and  girls  was  to  blindfold  them,  tie  their  hands 

behind  them,  and  stand  them  in  the 
corner.  The  nose  was  sometimes 
clasped  in  a  cleft  stick. 

The  first  school  committee's  re- 
port was  in  '49.  The  next  year  the 
committee  says  that  "the  houses  are 
all  in  good  repair,  except  one  small 
primarv  schoolhouse  which  is  wooden 
and  bare  enough.  I'^ggs  might  be 
cooked  on  the  sunny  side  of  it  in  the 
summer,  and  some  attention  is  needed 
before  another  summer  else  the  child- 
ren may  be  cooked."  They  say  some 
of  our  schools  "  are  truly  ragged 
schools  and  as  dirty  as  ragged,"  and 
add  the  remark  that  "  those  who 
come  to  our  shores  are  heartily  wel- 
come to  a  share  of  our  privileges, 
but  we  do  wish  they  would  take  with 
the  rest  a  share  of  our  soap  and 
water."  The  old  district  system  was 
abolished  in  1S69.  In  1879  our 
town  voted  to  jjlace  our  schools  under  the  supervision  of  a  school  superintendent,  which  has  been  of  great  advantage 
to  them. 

Formerly  children  entered  the  grammar  school  at  a  very  early  age,  one  lady  who  is  with  us  tonight  having 


STREET    SCHOOL. 


iFRONT  STREET,  CHICOPEE  CENTRE. 

-5 


entered  at  the  tender  age  of  six  years  and  two  months.  The  pupils  remained  in  the  grammar  school  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  time,  and  were  e\entually  asked  how  many  of  them  would  like  to  go  to  the  high  scliool.  The  desire  for 
promotion  seemed  general,  and  a  solid  vote  was  usually  obtained  in  favor  of  advancement.  The  late  Dr.  P.  Le  1!. 
Stickney,  of  Springfield,  did  a  most  excellent  work  in  connection  with  our  high  and  grammar  schools  in  grading 
and  classifying.       In  these  schools  many  of  us  passed  hapjiy  years,  and  tender  memories  of  the  old  high  school 

building  will  dwell  with  us  as  long  as  life  shall  last. 
'  :  '      .Many  are  there  of  the  excellent  and  honorable  whose 

names  may  be  found  here  enrolled  either  as  teacher 
or  puiiils.  The  name  that  comes  first  to  our  lips 
is  that  of  tlie  man  whose  state  has  been  honored 
by  his  acceptance  of  the  gubernatorial  chair,  whose 
])ublic  and  private  life  is  without  reproach,  who,  al- 
ways and  everywhere,  has  the  love  and  respect  of 
those  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  his  pupils  in 
the  Chicopee  High  School— Ex-('iO\-.  George  1). 
Robinson. 

Some  of  the  pupils  went  their  way  out  into  the 
world  to  make  for  themsehes  a  career,  while  others 
have  remained  among  us  to  live  their  lives,  and  do 
their  ser\  ice  near  the  home  of  their  youth.  One  of 
our  long-ago  pupils,  Zenas  Moody,  has  been  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Oregon.  Another,  William  Walker,  was  for 
years  on  the  staff  of  a  Chicago  newspaper.  A  third, 
Hon.  Thomas  B.  Stockwell,  has  for  years  been  prominent  in  educational  circles  in  Rhode  Island.  Others,  lawyers, 
doctors,  ministers,  and  artists,  have  done  faithful  work  in  administering  justice,  in  saving  bodies  and  souls,  in  culti- 
vating the  beautiful,  and  thus  placing  before  us  high  ideals  of  art  and  character,  while  many  have  joined 

"  The  choir  invisible 

Of  those  inimortal  dead  w  ho  live  again 
In  minds  made  better  by  their  presence." 

26 


NEW     HIGH     SCHOOL. 


GROUP  ON  FRONT  STREET. 
27 


CHURCHES. 

On  the  same  day  and  at  the  same  place  was  read  this  very  pleasantly  written  paper  on  the  early  churches  by 
Mrs.  Mary  F.  Smith,  who  has  allowed  it  to  be  used  in  this  connection  : 

In  May,  1636,  we  find  the  following  agreement,  which  was  signed  by  eight  of  the  twelve  settlers  who  first  came  : 

"  \\  e  intend,  by  God's  grace,  as  soon  as  we  can,  with  all  convenient  speed,  to  procure  some  Godly  and  faithful 
minister,  with  whom  we  purpose  to  join  in  Church  covenant  to  walk  in  all  the  ways  of  Christ,"  and  in  1645  the  first 
meeting  house  was  built.  In  1749  Chicopee  had  nearly  40  voters,  and  entered  a  petition  for  a  separate  minister  in 
January.  The  petition  was  dismissed.  In  the  autumn  the  Chicopee  people  asked  again.  The  answer  was  that  the 
people  were  more  than  compensated  for  the  extra  fatigue  of  the  Sabbath  by  being  so  far  from  the  center.  The  ride 
on  horseback  for  a  half  day  was  equal  to  some  more  than  a  half  day's  labor.  But  on  the  whole  they  lived  with  less 
fatigue  than  those  in  the  center,  who  were  obliged  to  build  and  maintain  three  large  vessels  to  transport  the  jiroduce 
of  their  lands  to  the  store,  besides  managing  their  business  through  the  week.  lUit  Chicopee  ])ersisted,  and  a  church 
was  organized  at  the  north  end.  The  Rev.  John  W.  McKinstry  was  the  first  pastor,  who  began  his  first  term  of 
service  in  September,  1752.  The  meeting  house  was  completed  in  November,  1753,  and  when  the  committee  was 
appointed  for  the  delicate  task  "  of  seating  the  meeting  house,"  they  were  granted  permission  to  seat  men  and  women 
together.  The  seating  was  regulated  according  to  the  tax  list.  One  of  our  oldest  townsmen  says  the  first  tax  he  ever 
paid  was  a  church  tax  of  16  cents.  After  this  church  was  built  nearly  all  the  residents  in  what  is  now  Chicopee 
attended  the  service  there,  instead  of  in  Springfield,  as  they  had  done  before.  The  Methodist  Church  at  the  Fails 
was  organized  about  1825,  and  the  Baptist  Church  at  that  place  in  1828.  The  Second  Congregational  Church  at  the 
Falls  was  formed  in  1830.  The  Third  Congregational  Church  was  the  first  church  constituted  in  Cabotville.  The 
society  was  organized  in  March,  1835,  with  18  members.  They  held  services  in  the  schoolhouse  on  South  street, 
and  afterward  in  Chapin's  Hall.  Their  first  church  edifice  was  dedicated  in  1837.  The  first  pastor  was  Sumner 
G.  Clapp. 

TheUniversalist  Society  was  constituted  in  l'"ebruary,  1S35,  and  the  church  organized  with  39  members.  They 
held  services  in  the  schoolhouse  on  School  street.  It  is  said  that  the  Universalists  used  it  three  Sundays  in  the  month 
and  the  other  societies  the  rest.  Their  church  edifice  was  dedicated  in  1836  and  was  the  first  one  in  Cabotville.  The 
first  pastor  was  Charles  Spear.  The  society  was  weakened  by  the  withdrawal  of  the   Unitarians  in   1S41.     Many  of  its 

28 


THIRD  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 
29 


strongest  supporters  moved  away  and  death  took  many  more.  It  ceased  to  exist  several  years  ago.  The  building  is 
now  used  by  the  Presbyterian  Society.  The  Central  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  July,  1835,  with  21  members, 
very  soon  after  the  Universalist.  They  were  publicly  recognized  as  a  Baptist  church  by  a  council  in  August,  1835. 
Their  first  services  were  held  in  the  house  on   Front  street  occupied  by  Mr.  Wheeler,  afterward  on  Spring  street,  and 

after  this  in  Chapin's  Hall.  Their  first  church  was 
dedicated  in  1S39.  Their  first  pastor  was  1  )r.  War- 
ren. The  Methodist  Church  was  organized  in  1838 
with  18  members.  They  also  held  services  in  Chap- 
in's Hall.  Their  first  church  building  was  erected 
in  1839  on  Perkins  street.  Their  first  pastor  was  Ed- 
mund S.  Potter.  It  is  now  owned  by  the  St.  Joseph 
Temjjerance  Society,  and  their  church  edifice  is  on 
Center  street.  The  Unitarian  Society  was  formed 
and  legally  organized  in  March,  1841.  The  church 
was  constituted  with  16  members.  Their  first  ser- 
vices were  held  in  Chapin's  Hall.  The  church  edi- 
fice was  built  in  1842.  The  first  regular  pastor  was 
lohn  A.  Buckingham.  The  Episcopal  Church  was 
organized  in  April,  1S46,  with  18  members.  Their 
first  services  were  hekl  in  Chapin's  Hall  and  after- 
ward in  Ferry's  Hall.  The  church  building  was 
completed  in  1848  and  partially  burned  in  1872.  It  has  been  repaired  recently  and  services  resumed.  The 
Second  Adventists  have  for  a  long  time  existed  in  the  city.  Some  of  their  first  gatherings  were  held  in  a  public  house 
in  Cabotville  and  in  a  private  hou-e  at  Chicopee  Falls.  A  society  was  formed  in  1870  in  Chicopee  Falls  and  a 
chapel  built  in  that  village. 

The  Catholics  commenced  holding  services  in  a  house  between  the  canal  and  river,  which  has  since  been 
washed  away.  Afterward  their  service  was  held  in  a  room  in  the  Ames  Company  shop.  The  church  was  gathered 
and  an  altar  erected  in  a  house  on  Pleasant  street,  in  1838,  and  their  first  church  was  erected  in  1840  on  the  same 


THE    OLD    UNITARIAN    CHURCH. 


30 


31 


street.  'I'heir  present  church  edifice  was  dedicated  in  1S57.  The  first  ^pastor  was  John  lirady.  We  see  that  in 
thirteen  years,  between  1S35  and  1848,  there  were  seven  churches  buih  in  the  village  of  Cabotville.  Every 
denomination  at  some  period  in  its  early  existence  had  held  services  in  Cha])in's  Hall,  but  never  together.  The  first 
Episcopalians  that  came  here  were  called  very  good  people,  but  Episcopalians  The  I'niversalists  and  Lhiitarians 
took  the  lead  in  many  a  good  work  and  ranked  high  in  their  trades  and  as  citizens,  but  they  were  Universalists  and 
Unitarians.     It  is  said  that  one  minister  |)rayed  that  the  Universalist  Church  might  be  carried  by  a  high  wind,  shingle 

by  shingle,  into  yonder  ri\er.  The  Methodists  were  \ery  strict  about 
their  dress.  One  ])rominent  man  brought  his  bride  here  without  a  bow 
or  jewelry  of  any  kind  because  his  religion  forbade  it.  The  Baptists 
thought  the  river  the  only  ]iroper  jilace  to  administer  baptism.  The 
(Jongregationalists  were  called  blue,  orthodox,  and  the  hill  on  which 
their  church  was  built  was  called  ISrinistone  Hill.  Vet  each  church 
was  organized  on  the  same  basis  and  with  the  same  intention  as  the 
church  way  back  in  16,36,  "To  procure  some  godly  and  faithful  minis- 
ter and  to  walk  in  all  the  ways  of  Christ." 

The  date  of  the  beginning  of  a  pronounced  interest  in  manufac- 
turing was  May  i  7,  i  786,  when  John  Hitchcock,  Stephen  Hitchcock, 
Ebenezer  Morgan,  Israel  Chapin,  Lemuel  Stebbins,  Dudley  Wade,  Cad 
Horton,  Stephen  Horton,  Phineas  Steadman  and  .\riel  Cooley  leased, 
in  ].)erpetuity,  "two  acres  of  land  and  the  water  privilege  on  the  south 
side  of  t.'hicopee  river  at  Skenungonuck  Falls,"  to  James  livers  and  William  Smith,  of  Springfield.  The  conditions 
of  the  lease  required  that  within  two  years  the  lessees  should  erect  "  iron  work  "  for  the  manufacture  of  hollow  ware 
of  that  metal.  The  ore  to  supply  the  furnace  was  taken  from  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  about  So  rods  above  the 
present  dam,  at  the  F"alls,  and  at  other  places.  The  ore  was  very  lean,  but  a  ton  of  iron  lasted  then  a  long  time.  The 
property  was  ])urchased  in  1801  by  Benjamin  Belcher,  Abijah  Witherell  and  William  Witherell,  and  then  commenced 
the  real  activity  of  the  concern.  In  1805,  May  22,  Mr.  lielcher  bought  the  interest  of  his  partners  and  continued  in 
business  alone  until  August,  1S22,  when  he  sold  the  entire  property  to  Jonathan  and  Ivlmund  Iiwight.  'I'he  property 
consisted  of  nearly  or  quite  all  the   land   where  now  stanils  the  village  of  Chicopee   Falls,  and  a  blast  furnace.     A 


EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 


"KNUCKLE    DOWN. 

33 


considerable  portion  of  this  land  had  been  purchased  by  Mr.  ISelcher  from  Stephen  Wright  and  I.evi  Hitchcock,  who 
had  settled  at  that  place  before  the  erection  of  the  iron  works.  These  gentlemen  removed  from  the  Falls  after  making 
this  sale.  The  early  activities  of  the  Dwight  Brothers,  both  socially  and  in  a  business  way,  have  left  very  pronounced 
results  in  Chicopee.  Not  the  least  of  their  many  thoughtful  acts  was  the  planting  of  many  of  the  magnificent  elm 
trees  which  add  so  much  to  the  beauty  of  the  present  city.  The  streets  where  corporation  buildings  were  erected 
and  those  where  the  mills  were  built  were  treated  like  the  up-town  streets,  and  are  alike  to-day  as  regards  shade  trees. 

Oliver  C'hapin  was  probably  the  first  settler  on  the  north  side  of  the  Chicopee  river  at  the  Falls,  and  in  1806 
he  sold  the  privilege  on  that  side  of  the  river  to  William  iiowman  and  Benjamin  and  Samuel  Cox,  who  erected  there 
a  paper  mill  and  carried  on  the  manufacture  of  paper  for  fifteen  years.  When  David  Ames  became  owner  of  this  in- 
dustry he  introduced  ]iai>er  making  machinery  which  greatly  facilitated  the  production.  In  1809  a  small  mill  was 
erected  near  the  upper  dam,  above  the  grist  mill  on  the  Chicopee  river,  by  William,  Levi  and  Joseph  Chapin,  who 
bought  cotton  and  made  yarn  from  which  cloth  was  made  by  handlooms  among  different  families  in  the  town.  The 
increased  competition  caused  by  the  importation  of  imported  goods  so  reduced  the  business  that  the  firm  abandoned 
it  in  1815.  The  water  power  privilege  was  sold  during  David  Ames' lifetime  to  the  Chicopee  Manufacturing  Co. 
The  land  and  water  power  at  Chicopee  Falls  was  purchased  in  the  year  1S22  by  Jonathan  Dwight  of  Springfield  for 
himself  and  brother  Edmund  of  Boston,  who  subsequently,  with  other  gentlemen  of  Boston  and  Springfield,  entered 
business  with  them.  Their  attention  having  been  drawn  to  the  erection  of  a  cotton  mill  at  this  place  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Hall  and  Mr.  Joseph  Brown,  a  company  was  incorporated  in  January,  1823,  under  the  name  of  Boston  and  Springfield 
Manufacturing  Co.,  with  ^500,000  capital.     J.  Dwight  was  the  first  president  and  Joseph  Hall  first  agent. 

The  publisher  is  indebted  to  Miss  A.  T.  Howard  for  a  very  entertaining  paper,  which,  after  stating  that  "  in 
1825  the  Springfield  and  Boston  Manufacturing  Co.  bought  the  water  power  and  land  adjacent  to  where  now  stands 
the  city  of  Chicopee,"  says  : 

In  1 83 1  a  new  company  was  organized  and  called  the  "Springfield  Canal  Company."  This  company  pur- 
chased the  CabotAille  property,  and  secured  John  Chase  as  agent.  At  this  time  (1832)  he  was  44  years  of  age,  and 
from  this  date  his  career  as  a  mechanic  and  builder  is  traced  in  the  manufactories  of  Chicopee.  When  he  assumed 
the  agency  of  the  "Springfield  Canal  Company,"  the  ground  now  occupied  by  this  city,  with  its  immense 
factories  and  numerous  dwellings,  was  covered  with  bushes  and  much  of  it  was  of  a  swampy  character.  There 
were  but  three  or  four  dwellings  in  the   neighborhood,  and   a   lady  of  this  city  who  came  as  a  young  girl  to  Cabot 

34 


RESIDENCE  OF  EX-MAYOR  GEORGE  S.  TAYLOR. 

35 


with   the   Chase  family,  tells  me  she  used  to  gather  cranberries  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  common  near  West  street. 

In  1832  John  Chase  drove  from  Chicopee  Falls,  where  he  had  been  superintending  the  erection  of  mill  No.  4, 
with  George  Praver,  to  survey  the  Cabotville  property,  and  when  Mr.  Prayer  drove  the  stake  at  the  place  where  the 
upper  end  of  the  canal  was  to  be,  John  Chase  told  him  : — "  He  could  tell  the  people  he  was  the  man  who  drove  the 
first  stake  for  a  new  Lowell." 

^\'e  instinctively  try  to  picture  Cabot\ille  as  it  was  when  John  Chase  first  came  here.  The  old  farm-houses 
here  and  there  ;  the  Armourers  troubling  the  Puritan  mind  of  Col.  Lee  because  they  traveled  the  "Toddy  Road  "  to 
Japhet  Chapin's  tavern  so  often;  the  children  roaming  the  fields  hither  and  yon  for  the  treasures  of  wood  and 
field,  and  when  the  shadows  of  night  began  to  fall,  hastening  to  the  shelter  of  their  homes,  as  with  their  imaginations 
they  saw  the  Indian  still  wandering  among  his  native  haunts — his  implements  still  to  be  found  in  the  vicinity. 

Then  Capital  and  Energy  utilizing  the  great  water-power,  and  one  by  one,  rapidly  as  the  years  came,  the 
great  factories  and  busy  workshops  rising  like  Aladdin's  palace  almost  by  magic,  calling  men  and  women  from  e\  ery 
land,  of  every  nationality,  to  become  the  makers  of  Chicopee  and  to  take  part  in  the  drama  of  joys  and  sorrows, 
successes  and  failures,  that  is  enacted  in  the  history  of  every  village  and  town. 

The  Canal  Company,  by  Mr.  Chase,  began  the  construction  of  the  canal  on  the  banks  of  the  Chicopee,  which 
leads  the  water  to  the  mills,  and  this  canal,  one-third  of  a  mile  in  length,  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1832. 

Mr.  West  tells  me  that  the  first  foreigner  who  came  to  Cabot  was  an  Irishman,  Tom  Brainard  by  name,  and 
that  he  was  a  very  nice  man.  The  second  foreigner  was  a  Scotchman  who  came  to  Chicopee  Falls  ;  he  has  not  left 
his  name,  but  he  left  some  poetry  which  would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  his  lot  in  life. 
These  are  the  pessimistic  lines  : — 

If  money  ihe  gift  of  life  could  buy. 

The  rich  would  live  and  the  pom-  would  die. 

It  seems  that  the  building  of  the  canal  brought  more  Irish  to  Cabot,  and  I  am  told  they  were  paid  75  cents 
per  day  and  three  jiggers,  the  "jiggers  "  being  something  very  nice  to  drink.  This  same  year,  1832.  a  dam  was  completed 
across  the  Chicopee  river  at  the  head  of  the  canal.  A  second  dam,  which  receives  the  overflow  from  the  upper  one, 
was  completed  in  1834.  Mr.  Charles  W.  McClellan  contracted  with  John  Chase  as  agent  of  the  Canal  Company  to 
build  these  dams.  Mr.  Chase  was  busy  surveying  and  laying  out  the  lands  of  the  Canal  Company,  and  it  is  said  that 
when  J.  K.  Mills,  the  treasurer  of  the  company,  came  to  Cabot  to  see  what  had  been  done,  he  said  to  Mr.  Chase  : — 

36 


THE  JUDGE  WELLS  HOUSE,  FORMERLY  THE  DWIGHT  PLAGE 

37 


"Mr.  Chase,  one  thing  is  clear  in  the  laying  out  of  this  town."  "And  what  is  that  ?"  said  Mr.  Chase.  "  That  you 
were  ilrunk,"  said  Mr.  Mills,  "  when  you  laid  it  out."  Mr.  Chase  laughed  and  said  he  laid  it  out  with  a  view  to  securing 
the  greatest  number  of  corner  lots.  When  Mr.  Chase  first  came  to  Cabot,  he  boarded  for  a  time  at  Austin  Chapin's 
tavern,  but  later  the  company  built  for  him  a  brick  house  situated  where  the  town  hall  now  stands,  and  known  to  my 

younger  days  as  the  Elliot  house,  and  his 
office  was  close  by  where  the  new  depot 
now  stands. 

This  company  disposed  of  portions  of 
its  property  and  water-power  to  corpora- 
tions which  from  time  to  time  were  succes- 
sively formed  and  whose  mills  were  all  built 
by  the  Canal  Company.  The  Cabot  Afanu- 
facturing  Company  was  the  first  one  formed 
and  was  incorporated  in  1S32.  Their  first 
mill  was  completed  in  1834  and  their  second 
in  183V  Ihe  completion  of  these  mills  was 
celebrated  by  balls  to  which  came  every- 
one from  far  and  near.  Mr.  Chase  and  his 
wife  were  fine  dancers  and  general!}'  opened 
the  ball.  Mr.  Henry  West  attended  the  first 
ball,  coming  from  and  returning  to  Chicopee 
Falls  (his  home),  in  Mr.  Chester  W.  Chap- 
in's stage,  which  was  quite  an  institution  in 
those  days.  In  1832  machine  shops  w^ere 
built  to  construct  proper  machinery  for  mak- 
ing cotton  goods,  and  the  Canal  Company  supplied  the  new  company  largely  with  the  needed  machinery.  These 
shops  were  small  and  stood  where  the  western  portion  of  the  buildings  of  the  Ames  Manufacturing  Company  now 
stands.     Isaac  Bullens  came  to  Chicopee  about  this  time  and  worked  as  a  machinist  for  this  company. 


BAPTIST  CHURCH.  CHICOPEE  FALLS. 


38 


The  opening  of  these  mills  and  shops  called  many  of  Mr.  Chase's  friends  from  New  Hampshire,  his  native 
state,  to  join  him  in  his  work  of  building  a  new  Lowell  at  Cabot,  and  if  we  may  believe  tradition,  they  were  not  the 
"dull  boys  who  take  all  work  and  no  play."  I  do  not  know  the  names  of  all  who  came  to  help  him  in  his  work,  but 
among  them  are  William  Clark,  Charles  French,  Simeon  and  Calvin  Chase,  J.  D.  'A'hite,  Mr.  Cronk,  Mr.  Dow, 
Moulton  Taylor,  Mr.  Samuel  Eastman  and  brother  Charles  East- 
man, Mr.  Woodman,  James  Smith,  Capt.  D.  M.  Moore  anil 
Orrin  Dudley.  Early  in  the  thirties,  Thomas  (  ?)  Humphrey  came 
here  to  work  for  Capt.  McClellan,  superintending  the  work  on 
the  canal.  I  have  pleasant  memories  connected  with  this  name,  as  a 
daughter  of  this  man  was  a  favorite  teacher  of  mine.  They  retain  their 
interest  in  their  old  home  and  have  a  memorial  window  in  their  new 
Baptist  church.  Josiah  Smith,  Lewis  Bosworth  and  the  Denison  fam- 
ily came  to  Cabot  about  1830.  Mr.  John  Denison,  for  most  of  his 
life  a  resident  of  this  town,  and  his  friend  Mr.  Childs  (afterwards  Dea. 
Childs  of  Holyoke)  were  among  the  early  workers  here.  Mr.  Denison 
teamed  for  the  company,  brought  and  carried  goods  from  Boston  and 
other  cities,  and  once  he  nearly  met  with  a  fatal  mishap  in  crossing 
the  Connecticut  river  on  the  ice  with  his  loaded  team.  The  ice  gave 
way  and  he  lost  his  goods,  but  was  fortunate  enough  to  escape  with  his 
life  and  team. 

For  the  Perkins  Company,  incorporated  in  1836,  the  Canal  Com- 
pany put  up  two  mills  -3  and  4  -one  in  1836  and  the  other  in  1837. 
For  the  D wight  Company  they  built  three  mills,  completed  in  1840, 
1842  and  1845.      (All  united  in  1S56.)  BAPTibj  church,  chicopee  cENTpe. 

Mr.  Chase's  faith  in  the  Canal  Company  was  great.  His  bookkeeper,  Mr.  Huntington,  gave  up  his  situation 
because  he  thought  he  had  a  call  to  enter  the  ministry.  "  Enter  the  ministry,"  said  Mr.  Chase.  "  How  much  salary 
do  you  get?"  The  sum  he  named  being  much  less  than  he  was  receiving  from  the  Canal  Company,  Mr.  Chase  said  : 
"And  how  do  you  expect  to  live  on  that?"     Mr.  Huntington  said  :    "  I  shall  trust  Providence  for  the  rest."     "  Hum  ! 


39 


trust  Providence,"  said  Mr.  t'hase ;  "I  should  a  dumb  sight  rather  trust  the  Springfield  Company."  He 
is  said  by  those  who  worked  for  him  to  have  been  exceedingly  faithful  to  the  interests  of  his  employers— to 
have  kept  a  very  close  watch  upon  all  the  works  entrusted  to  his  care. 

Mr.  Kacon,  a  friend  of  his,  and  for  most  of  his  life  a  resi- 
dent of  this  town,  told  me  he  went  through  the  shops  every 
day  looking  after  the  work.  He  had  one  finger  which  had 
been  maimed  in  some  way,  and  the  workmen  said  "  if  there 
was  any  imperfection  in  their  work.  Uncle  John's  stub  finger 
was  sure  to  light  upon  it." 


v..,_.n,^..    ._.r     .  ,,:;    HOLY    NAME   OF  JESUS. 

There  is  much  said  nowadays  about  haxing  the  courage 
of  your  convictions.  John  Chase  always  had  the  courage  of 
his  convictions,  telling  the  minister  at  one  time  "  to  be  as  brief 
as  possible,  as  some  of  them  were  getting  pretty  tired."  french  catholic  church. 

The  house  so  long  occupied  by  him  at  the  lower  end  of  Grape  street  was  built  for  him  by  the  company.  They 
gave  him  the  choice  of  lots — the  front  lot,  where  James  T.  Ames  afterwards  built,  or  the  lower  lot,  and  he  chose  the 
lower  one — a  source  of  regret  to  his  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Gen.  John  Stark,  of  Revolutionary  fame. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Mechanics'  Association,  who  built  the  Universalist  church  in  1836  and  presented  it 
to  the  society.  In  this  year  (1836)  the  Catholic  cemetery  is  said  to  have  been  given  to  the  Catholics  by  the  Canal 
Company. 


40 


It  seems  at  one  time  there  must  have  been  some  jealous  feeHng  between  Springfield  and  her  outlying  districts, 
for  about  1836  some  of  the  out-of-town  folks  were  bound  to  put  down  the  Springfield  high  school.  Both  villages  of 
what  is  now  Chicopee  turned  out  in  full  force  to  help  vote  it  down.     Uncle  John  Chase  said  "  his  shop  could  not  start 


j    :^.w>  \ 


\¥-ii^. 


THE    OLD    JUDGE   CARTER    PLACE 

till  that  school  was  put  down,"  so  the  old  Town  Hall  of  Springfield  was  filled  with  voters.      But  Judge  Oliver  Morris 
carried  the  day  for  the  schools.     He  said  :     "  Here,  sir,  the  poor  have  the  same  rights  as  the  rich.     Ves,  gentlemen, 


41 


I  glory  in  this,  for  I  am  a  Republican,  and  know  my  rights,  the  greatest  of  which  is  freedom,  after  which,  our  public 
schools,  at  the  head  of  which  is  our  high  school."  He  carried  his  audience  with  him.  Mr.  Chase's  objection  could 
not  have  been  to  high  schools  in  general,  as  in  1842  he  gave  $1,000  toward  the  completion  of  a  high  school  building 
on  (irape  street. 

The  First  National  liank  of  fhicopee  began  its  existence  in  1S45,  with  a  capital  of  §150,000,  ami  Jolin  Chase 
was  chosen  its  first  president  March  8,  1S45,  and  continued  its  president  until  he  resigned,  Ocl.  6,  1849.  While  he 
was  president  there  was  a  run  made  upon  the  bank,  instigated  by  some  one  who  had  a  spite  against  it.  This  man 
collected  all  the  claims  against  the  bank  possible  and  presented  them  for  gold  payment,  and  incited  or  frightened 
others  into  doing  the  same.  Uncle  John  was  worried,  but  no  one  knew  that  he  was.  Finally  he  dressed  himself  in 
the  oldest  and  most  weather-beaten  clothes  that  his  garret  afforded,  to  avoid  recognition,  and  was  driven  to  Springfield 
in  the  evening,  and  there  took  the  cars  for  New  York.  No  one  knew  that  he  had  gone  except  (lilbert  Walker,  the 
cashier.  He  came  back  the  next  night,  walked  up  from  Springfield  with  a  bag  of  gold  on  each  arm,  and  reached 
home  about  9  o'clock  in  the  evening.     So  they  weathered  the  storm  successfully. 

.At  this  time  Cabot  was  apparently  at  the  very  zenith  of  her  prosperity.  Rnterprise  anti  industry  seemed 
indeed  in  a  fair  way  to  make  Cabot  "a  new  Lowell."  Already  some  of  her  manufactures  had  acquired  an  almost 
world-wide  fame.  But  in  looking  back  into  these  years  of  prosperity,  the  building  up  of  this  city  is  not  all  that  we 
see,  nor  the  din  of  machinery  all  that  we  hear.  We  see  men  fighting  vigorously  for  their  opinions.  We  see  one  man 
intensely  opposed  to  the  division  from  Springfield  and  the  next  one  as  intensely  favoring  it,  and  all  so  faithfully 
backing  up  their  convictions  that  in  1843  the  town  failed  to  secure  a  board  of  selectmen.  We  also  see,  by  the 
j-eports  that  come  to  us  from  those  distant  days,  that  tlien,  as  always,  "  orthodoxy  is  my  doxy,  and  heterodoxy  is  your 
doxy,"  and  they  were  even  more  willing  to  prove  it  by  "  apostolic  blows  and  knocks  "  than  we  are.  Look  more 
closely,  and  you  will  see  fermenting  those  bitter  differences  of  convictions  that  finally  culminated  in  the  great  Civil 
War.  And  the  outcome  of  all  this  clashing  of  thought  and  word  and  deed  is  individuality,  which  gives  such  zest  and 
interest  to  life. 

Intimately  associated  with  John  Chase  in  the  work  of  building  the  town,  was  Charles  W.  McClellan,  who  took 
contracts  and  built  most  of  the  masonry  and  stone  work  of  Chicopee's  mills,  dams  and  public  buildings.  He  is  noted 
in  many  states  for  his  faithful  and  enduring  work,  and  was  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  His  public 
spirit  led  in  1845  to  the  construction  of  the  first  works  for  supplying  the  town  with  water  through  pipes.     .Associated 

42 


MAIN  STREET,  CHICOPEE  FALLS. 
43 


with  him  in  this  work  was  Robert  E.  Bemis.  Water  was  first  siipphed  from  tiie  springs  anil  wells  at  a  higher  elevation 
just  south  of  the  village  After  the  death  of  .Mr.  Bemis  it  became  wholly  the  property  of  Mr.  McClellan.  In  1S76  a 
dam  was  erected  beyond  the  east  line  of  Chicopee  in  Springfield  for  a  more  satisfactory  supply  of  water,  and  in  1877 
the  Chicopee  Water  Company  was  formed  with  Mr.  McClellan  as  a  stockholder.  In  1850  the  four  large  corporations, 
Ames,  Cabot,  Perkins  and  Dwight,  erected  gas  works  with  a  capacity  sufficient  to  supply  the  mills  and  meet  the 
ordinary  wants  of  the  villages.  At  some  date,  of  which  I  can  find  no  record,  the  Canal  Company  became  merged  in 
the  Ames  Company. 

Mr.  Chase's  labors  were  not  confined  to  Chicopee  and  vicinity.  He  was  sent  for  to  suj,erintend  the  building 
of  dams,  canals  and  mills  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and  other  states.  He  was  a  man  whose 
word  was  considered  as  good  as  his  bond.  For  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  (so  I  read  in  the  account  given  of  him  in 
the  Springfield  Rtpnhlican  at  the  time  of  his  death),  he  made  it  a  rule  not  to  increase  the  amount  of  his  property,  but 
to  give  his  income,  over  and  above  that  needed  for  his  own  use,  where  it  would  do  the  most  good.  Exact,  exacting 
and  methodical  in  business,  but  genial  and  affectionate  at  home.      He  died  May  11,  1S66. 

Mrs.  Luther  White  kindly  contributes  a  carefully  prepared  and  interesting  paper  on  the  Dwight  Manufacturing 

Company,  which  is  another  of  the  group  of  historical  papers  read  on  that  memorable  day  in  the  chapel  of  the  Third 

Congregational  Church. 

THE  DWIGHT  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY. 

The  subject  assigned  to  me  has  none  of  the  interest  for  people  in  general  which  attaches  to  the  old  houses  and 
prominent  families.  A  corporation  is  impersonal,  and  the  chief  points  of  interest  are  found  in  the  growth  of  the  cot- 
ton manufacturing  interests  in  our  town  and  in  lirief  mention  of  some  of  the  more  prominent  of  the  families  who  were 
early  connected  with  its  develo|3ment. 

The  mills  which  are  now  owned  and  operated  by  the  Dwight  Manufacturing  Coinpany  were  originally  built  for 
three  separate  corporations.  Those  which  are  known  as  No.  i  and  No.  2  were  originally  the  property  of  the  Cabot 
Company,  and  on  this  account  the  name  of  Cabotville  was  given  to  the  village,  a  name  which  it  retained  until  the 
incorporation  of  the  town.  The  mills  known  as  No.  3  and  No.  4  were  owned  and  operated  by  the  Perkins  Company. 
The  remaining  mills  were,  from  the  time  of  their  first  erection,  run  by  the  Dwight  Company.  But  neither  of  the  cor- 
porations developed  the  water  power  which  the  river  afforded,  nor  did  they  erect  the  buildings.  This  was  done  by 
the  Springfield  Canal  Company.     The  latter  company  was  formed  mainly  through  the  agency  of  George  Bliss  of 

44 


THE  T.  W    CARTER  PLACE. 

45 


Springfield,  who  bought  all  the  land  which  he  thought  desirable  for  a  town  site  and  which  he  could  get  in  accordance 
with  his  ideas  of  value.  'I  he  preliiiiinary  work  necessary  to  the  formation  of  a  factory  village  was  begun  in  1S2S  and 
'29,  and  the  first  cotton  mill  began  operations  in  1S32. 

In  the  olden  time,  for  most  of  us  are  supposed  to  be  young  enough    to  call  the  beginning  of  our  village  the 
olden  time— no  mill  was  considered  ready  for  the  machinery  until  it  had  been  dedicated  by  a  grand  ball.     If  tradition 

can  be  trusted  the  posters  were  right  in  giving  such 
imposing  name  to  the  social  occasion.  Uncle  lohn 
Chase,  agent  of  the  Springfield  Canal  Company,  and 
consequently  chief  man  of  the  village,  led  the  grand 
march,  and,  of  course,  all  the  beauty  and  chivalry  of 
Cabotville  were  gathered  there  by  the  light  of  the 
lanterns  and  the  sperm  oil  lamps  to  celebrate  the  oc- 
casion. When  the  Cabot  Company  was  ready  for 
manufacturing,  R.  1'^.  Bemis  was  appointed  agent, 
lie  built  the  house  which  is  now  occupied  by  Mr. 
Carter  on  Front  street  and  located  it  so  that  he  could 
conveniently  overlook  the  mills,  as  at  that  time  there 
were  no  intervening  buildings  Mr.  U'hitter,  father 
of  the  recent  paymaster  of  the  1  )wight  Company,  was 
agent  of  the  Perkins  Mills  most  of  the  time  during 
which  they  had  a  separate  corporate  existence. 
REbioENCE  OF  THE  LATE  GEORGE  M.  STEARNS.  'Hie    I  )wight  Compauy    wasorganlzcd  in  1841, 

and  very  shortly  after  that  time  Sylvanus  Adams  came  from  Lowell  to  take  charge  of  its  mills.  He  continued  to  be 
agent  for  twenty-seven  years,  and  during  all  of  that  time  actively  looked  after  the  interests  of  the  corporation  which 
he  represented,  and  was  also  interested  in  other  business  enterprises  in  the  town  and  vicinity.  He  was  a  public- 
spirited  man  and  took  a  great  interest  in  the  Cabot  Institute,  the  public  schools,  in  the  religious  organization  with 
which  he  was  connected,  and  in  many  ways  made  his  influence  felt  and  respected  in  the  community.  He  had  a 
large  family  of  beautiful  and  bright  children  and  his  home  was  a  center  of  social  influence  and  power. 


46 


In  1856  the  Dwight  Company  bought  the  property  of  the  Cabot  Company  and  the  Perkins  mills.  The  whole 
of  the  cotton  manufacturing  interests  were  then,  and  ever  since  have  been,  carried  on  by  the  Dwight  Manufacturing 
Company. 

The  consolidation  was  at  that  time  the  occasion  of  much  talk  about  the  growing  power  of  great  corporations, 
and  the  opposition  was  very  similar  to  that  which  we  hear  now  on  the  same  subject.  But  the  work  of  manufacturing 
has  gone  on  with  increasing  prosperity  and  with  no 
detriment  to  the  public.  After  a  long  term  of  service 
Mr.  Adams  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Budlong,  whose 
death  soon  after  his  removal  to  the  town  was  greatly 
lamented.  Gen.  Nye  then  took  charge,  and  his  con- 
nection with  the  company  and  his  residence  here 
with  his  family  are  remembered  with  much  pleasure. 

The  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth  was  begun  in 
this  locality  under  such  circumstances  as  would  now 
be  fatal  to  such  an  enterprise.  The  raw  material  and 
the  finished  product  had  to  be  transported  by  teams, 
or  by  the  equally  slow  water  navigation  of  the  Con- 
necticut river.  The  only  means  of  artificial  light 
was  by  sperm-oil  lamps.  Since  then  improved  ma- 
chinery has  increased  \ery  greatly  the  product  of  the 
mills,  and   at  the  same   time  reduced  the  hours  of 

labor  and  the  number  of  laborers,  while  the  wages     __^^_„_   

have  been  nearly  doubled.  residence  of  t.  c.  page,  east  street. 

In  those  good  old  times  the  operatives  had  to  work  14  hours  a  day.  Then  the  best  overseers  did  not  get 
over  $2.25  per  day,  while  now  they  receive  more  than  twice  that  sum.  Now  a  mule  spinner  does  the  work  which  two 
did  then  and  gets  three  times  the  pay,  and  I  am  informed  that  the  wages  of  the  other  operatives  are  also  very  much 
higher  than  they  were  50  years  ago.  The  product  of  the  mills  has  also  been  more  than  doubled.  In  the  year  just 
preceding  the  consolidation  of  the  companies  the   united  product  of  all  the  mills  did  not  exceed    14,000,000  yards 


47 


a  year,  while  at  the  present  time  there  are  over  30,000,000  yards  turned  out  every  year,  or  an  average  of  more  than 

100,000  yards  for  each  working  day. 

The  greatest  apparent  change,  so  far  as   it  affects   the   social   life   of  the  town,  is  not,  however,  in  the  mills, 

methods  of  manufacture  or  wages,  but  in 
the  personnel  of  the  employes.  During  the 
first  years  of  cotton  manufacturing  the  help 
came  almost  exclusively  from  the  surround- 
ing towns,  excepting  a  few  skilled  workmen 
from  Lowell.  It  was  a  homogeneous  mass 
of  people,  which  cultivated  New  England 
traditions.  The  first  foreign  laborers  who 
were  introduced  here  came  to  dig  the  canal. 
They  did  no  skilled  work  and  tended  no 
machinery,  but  were  the  forerunners  of  a 
vast  multitude  of  various  races  and  nation- 
alities, so  that  now  in  order  to  understand 
the  language  of  the  street  one  must  speak 
nearly  all  the  tongues  of  Continental  EuVope. 
The  change  which  the  advent  of  for- 
eigners has  made  in  the  New  England 
town  is  too  api^arent  to  require  comment, 
and  we  are  too  intimately  affected  by  it  to 
pass  unbiased  judgment  thereon. 

RESIDENCE   OF   MRS.    MARGARET    M.    NEALLEY.  MRS     LU'i  HER    \\  HITE. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  the  early  settlers  was  Deacon  Silas  Mosman,  of  whom  Mrs.  ^Nlelzer  Alosman,  thus 
pleasantly  writes  ; 

I  suppose  the  intention  was  to  commence  our  narrations  some  time  pre\ious  to  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on 
Plymouth  Rock,  liut  as  the  .Mosmans  at  present  settled  in  Chicopee  trace  their  family  descent  back  to  the  time  of 

48 


r 

L 

m^'^- 

:4.^ 

'^^^mI 

J 

pSHPSi 

1 

"  Bloody  Mary,"  and  as  a  Mosman  was  her  clock  maker,  I  must  commence  there.  This  link  also  connects  the  Mos- 
man  family  to  a  valuable  property  consisting  of  castles  and  treasure  in  the  Bank  of  England,  and  is  so  conclusive  that 
a  lawyer  has  been  employed  to  reinstate  us  in  our  lawful  rights.  When  we  are  once  in  the  ancient  strongholds  we 
shall  be  happy  to  receive  at  the  castle  and  talk  over  old  times  with  the  friends  present  to-day. 

The  first  track  made  by  a  Mosman  on 
Chicopee  soil  was  in  1829,  when  Deacon 
Silas  Mosman  walked  from  Warwick  to 
Skipmuck  and  secured  employment  for  him- 
self and  sons  in  the  cotton  mills  and  else- 
where. On  his  way  to  and  from  he  lodged 
at  a  farm  house  in  Hadley  and  was  charged 
a  ninepence  (12  1-2  cents)  for  his  entertain- 
ment. Later  he  moved  his  family  there, 
consisting  of  a  wife  and  seven  sons,  Silas, 
Abner,  David,  George,  I  )e.\ter,  Nathan  and 
Martin,  and  one  daughter,  Mary. 

In  a  short  time  Deacon  Mosman  and 
the  older  sons  were  employed  in  the  Ames 
shops  in  the  manufacturing  of  cutlery,  Mr. 
Mosman  as  grinder  and  two  of  the  sons  as 
polishers  and  the  others  in  various  ways. 
They  removed  with  the  Ames  works  to 
Lower  Chicopee  in  1S34,  where  they  were 
engaged  for  many  years.  .At  this  time,  when 
Chicopee  was  a  mere  hamlet,  Deacon  Mos-  the  whittemore  place 

man  and  his  two  eldest  sons,  then  married,  bought  the  land  south  of  the  high  school  and  built  two  houses,  those  now 
owned  by  Mrs.  De.xter  Mosman  and  Mrs.  Pepper,  which  were  occupied  by  Deacon  Silas  Mosman  and  Silas  Mosman, 
Jr.,  for  years.     They  with  their  wives  were  four  of  the  eighteen  members  of  the  little  church  which  was  organized  the 


49 


year  they  came  here,  18,54,  '"kI  "''is  known  as  the  Sixth  Congregational  Church  of  Springfield.  This  church  was  dear 
to  the  whole  Mosman  family,  and  time,  labor  and  money  were  cheerfully  given  for  its  welfare.  The  l.irothers  were 
prominent  in  aiding  in  the  church  music,  which  consisted  of  mixed  \oices  and  an  orchestra  that  is  worthy  of  men- 
tion here,  as  it  was  famous  in  all  the  region.  It  had  various  make-ups,  but  for  a  long  time  was  as  follows  :  Flutes, 
Dexter  Mosman  and    Klijah    Harwood  ;  double  Ixass,   Silas   Mosman,  Jr.,  ophicleide,   (leorge   Mosman.      Mr.  Henry 

West  has  a  record  in  the  early  church  as  flutist 
and  janitor.  He  swept  the  meeting  house, 
built  the  fires  and  shoveled  the  snow  for  $25  a 
year. 

The  ladies'  meetings,  such  as  sewing  socie- 
ties and  mothers'  meetings,  were  always  encour- 
aged and  supported  by  the  presence  and  talents 
of  Mrs.  Deacon  Mosman,  and  the  status  of  so- 
(  iety  was  a  \ital  (|uestion  with  her,  who  was  a 
Puritan  by  birtli  and  breeding,  and  who,  with 
her  large  family  and  a  house  full  of  boarders, 
had  a  heart  larger  than  all  her  cares  and  duties. 
The  first  break  in  the  family  was  the  death  of 
I  >avid,  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  just  one 
vear  from  the  day  of  his  marriage  with  Margaret 
I'ease  of  Chicopee  street.  He  died  of  Cabot 
fever,  a  fearful  scourge  that  took  its  name  frorn  the  town  where  it  raged  exclusively  in  1839,  and  on  the  day  of 
his  burial  nine  dead  lay  unburied  in  this  small  village. 

Deacon  Mosman  was  an  important  factor  in  the  new  and  growing  community  and  was  once  elected  and  served 
as  representative.  He  died  in  1854,  and  five  years  afterwards  his  wife.  Silas  Mosman  was  elected  to  represent  the  town, 
or  district  (as  it  was  a  part  of  Springfield),  in  1848,  and  it  was  owing  to  his  tact  and  unusual  ability  that  the  bill  was 
passed  allowing  Chicopee  to  be  set  off  from  S|iringfield  and  to  aspire  to  the  dignity  of  a  town  by  itself.  He  has  a 
well-known  and  well-earned  reputation  tor  work  done  under  his  superintendence  for  the  Ames  Company.      The  fine 


50 


presentation  swords  of  General  (Irant,  General  Butler,  Gov.  Oglesby  and  others,  costing  ^2,000  each,  which  were  made 

here,  and  also  the  bronze  statuary  department,  were  under  his  management  and  direction.     Among  the  notable  bronze 

works  are  the  bronze  doors  made  for  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  costing  $57,000.     The  finish  of  the  work  is  declared 

by  experts  to  be  distinctively  American — neither  an  imitation  of  the  French  fififle  or  of  the  German  finish,  but  equal  to 

either  in  beauty  of  treatment  or  execution.     During  the  war  three  of  the  Mosman  Brothers,  Silas,  George  and  Martin, 

were  in  the  Ames  shops  at  work  upon  war  implements.     The  other  three  brothers,  Dexter,  Abner,  and  Martin,  were 

government  inspectors,  and  three  of  the  third  generation,  William, 

Mulzar  and  Emory,  responded  to  Uncle  Sam's  call  and  went  to 

the  front.     Two  of  the  last  survived  the  honor  of  having  been 

soldiers,  but  Emory,  a  boy  of    17,  volunteered  to  undertake  a 

hazardous  mission  inside  the  enemy's  lines  at  Port  Hudson  and 

was  personally  commi?sioned  by  Gen.  Banks.       He  was  never 

seen  or  heard  from  afterward.     Of  the  seven  brothers  who  came 

to  Chicopee  Falls  in  1829,  all  lived  to  mature  age  and  married. 

And  with  the  exception  of  David,  who  died  at  24  years  of  age, 

all  became  closely  identified  with  the  best  interests  of  the  town 

and  were  useful  citizens  and  prosperous  men. 

Mary,  the  sister,  is  renowned  for  her  purity  .nnd  her  faith. 
She  is  the  apostle  of  the  faith  cure  and  brings  about  wonderful 
things  ;  she  has  a  faith  home  at  ( )cean  (iro\e.  George,  Nathan 
and  Mary  are  still  alive,  and  seventeen  of  the. third  generation  — 
with  nineteen  of  the  fourth  generation.  Had  she  lived  in  Medi- 
aeval times  she  would  doubtless  ha\e  been  canonized  as  a  saint. 

The  name  of  Folder  Hiram  Munger  has  been  associated  with  Chicopee  too  many  years  not  to  be  a  familiar 
combination  to  most  people  throughout  the  Connecticut  Valley.  Mr.  Munger  is  now  in  his  90th  year,  and  retains  his 
interest  in  the  busy  life  of  to-day.  You  may  find  him  sitting  at  his  sunny  window  reading  or  writing,  or,  perhaps, 
preparing  to  attend  some  convention  in  some  distant  city,  where  he  is  going  to  preach  or  give  an  address.  Life  is 
still  worth  living,  and  has  many  attractions  for  him.     Mr.  Munger  is  best  known,  and  will  always  be  remembered,  as  he 


CASINO    AUDITORIUK 


51 


appears  on  the    street  in  an   ordinary  business  suit  and   soft  felt  liat.       His   response  to  a  request   for   something 
original   from   him   is  found   in  the  following  short  sketch  ; 

Chicopee  Falls,  Oct.  2d,  1S95. 
A  short  and  condensed  account  of  the  growth  and  enterprise  of 
Chicopee  by  ladder  Hiram  Munger,  in  his  90th  year,  and  over  75  years 
in  Chicopee,  called  by  King  Philip  "  Skammganuk,"  which  means  "fish 
river," — As  I  have  been  requested  a  number  of  times  to  give  an  account 
of  Chicopee  on  different  points,  I  give  this  in  a  general  condensed  way, 
as  follows  : 

When  I  came  to  Chicopee  in  i.Sjo  there  were  no  factories,  but  one 
meeting  house,  one  doctor,  four  schools,  and  no  lawyers.  About  1000 
inhabitants  in  1822.  The  first  cotton  factory  was  built  in  1822  at  the 
Falls,  and  one  at  the  lower  village  in  18,^2,  and  both  have  increased 
ten  fold.  Now  we  ha\e  17,000  iiihabitants,  over  a  score  of  meeting 
houses,  schools,  doctors  and  lawyers,  and  the  enterprise  in  manufacturing 
increasing.  I  know  of  no  place  of  the  same  size  that  has  invented  so 
many  ini|iortant  [latents  as  the  mechanics  of  Chicopee.  The  world  is 
indebted  to  Chicopee  for  two  of  the  greatest  inventions  of  the  age,  viz.,  the 
friction  match  by  Fhilijis  and  the  great  rotary  ]:iaper  machine  by  John 
.\nies,  and   many  others.     The  in\'entors  were  my  most  intimate  friends. 

HiR.A.M  .Muni;er. 
V.  S — King    I'hilip's   army  of    Indians  was    camjied   on  Chicopee 
river  when  they  burnt  Springfiehl,  then  massacred  many  at  liloody  Brook, 
(Greenfield. 

The  Springfield  Reptiblicaii  writes  thus  jjleasantly  of  Inkier  Munger  : 
"  Elder  Hiram  Munger,  now  in  his  ninety-first  year,  is  one  of  the  original  and  forcible  Yankee  types  that  are 
said  to  be  disappearing  as  time  goes  on,  but  which,  nevertheless,  are  likely  to  be  repeated  for  a  long  while  yet,  if  not 


ELDER    HIRAM    MUNGER 


THE  ERASTUS  STEBBINS   PLACE,  SPRINGFIELD  STREET. 

53 


with  just  the  \igoroiis  flavor  of  the  generation  of  Mr.  Mimger,  yet  with  enough  of  the  true  \'ankee  character  to  warrant 
their  kinsliip.  Mr.  Munger  has  been  all  his  life  a  hard-working  man  ;  he  began  to  earn  his  living  in  a  factory  while 
he  was  a  child,  and  grew  up,  turning  his  hand  to  whatever  offered  itself;  he  ran  a  grist  mill,  invented  a  water  wheel, 

became  a  millwright,  built  dams  as 
well  as  wheel-jMts  ;  but  principally, 
after  he  was  twenty- five  years  old,  he 
worked  in  the  field  of  religion,  in  his 
own  peculiar  way,  preaching  and  pray- 
ing, taking  charge  of  camp  meetings, 
first  of  Methodists,  then  of  Second 
Adventists  ;  dealing  with  "  the  Cain 
family,"  and  often  making  Christians 
of  them  ;  awakening  consciences,  fill- 
ing "the  anxious  seats,"  converting 
hard  old  fellows  and  confirmed  shrews 
to  temperance  of  appetite  or  tongue, 
and  everywhere  using  a  shrewd  per- 
ception of  individual  human  nature 
and  a  masterly  way  of  dealing  with  it 
to  accomplish  results  that  few  men 
could  bring  about.  Hiram  Munger 
has  lived  almost  all  his  life  within  a 
few  miles  of  this  city,  and  has  seen  it 
grow  from  a  village.  No  man  can 
LOOKING  UP  HILL  AT  Dt.oT.  pj^^^^g  jj^  changes  better  than  he  ;  he 

has  his  opinion  on  every  public  subject,  and  it  is  apt  to  be  a  strong  and  sensible  opinion.  As  the  years  go,  he 
ripens,  and  his  age  is  as  much  wiser  than  his  youth  as  age  ought  to  be.  He  is  the  same  blunt,  plain-spoken,  unpolished 
man  he  used  to  be  in  the  40s,  but  he  has  vastly  broadened  and  strengthened  in  thought,  and  while  he  does  not  think 

54 


JUNCTION    OF  SPRINGFIELD  AND  WEST  STREETS. 

55 


now  any  more  than  then  that  education  will  sa\e  a  man's  soul,  he  appreciates  its  value  more.  Few  men  ha\'e  done 
more  solid  good  than  MIder  Munger,  and  liis  equal  for  vigorous  originality  of  character  may  lie  sought  far  and  near  in 
vain." 

The  merchants  of  the  town  was  the  subject  of  Mrs.  A.  H.  Stebbins'  paper,  and  she  thus  interestingly  describes 
them  : 

THE  MERCHANTS. 

In  looking  up  the  names  of  the  merchants  who  were  engaged  in  business  in  CabotviUe,  or  Lower  Chicopee,  as 
the  i^lace  was  called  in  its  early  days,  I  had  access  to  several  numbers  of  the  CabotviUe  Chronicle  printed  in  1842, 
'44  and  '45,  edited  by  Thomas  D.  Blossom,  also  the  CabotviUe  Mirror  of  '49  edited  by  Henry  Russell,  the  Chicopee 
Telegraph  of  '51,  edited  by  J.  C.  Stoever  and  printed  in  a  room  under  the  Cabot  hall,  and  the  Chicopee  Journal, 
edited  by  J.  C   Haven  and  ti.  V.  W'heelock.     It  was  the  same  weekly  paper  with  a  different  name. 

Before  1840  there  were  only  a  few  stores,  but  they  increased  as  the  times  demanded.  The  first  merchants 
were  Moses  Christy  and  Samuel  Harthen,  who  were  partners  in  dry  goods  and  groceries  and  occupied  the  store  which 
they  had  built,  near  where  the  post  office  is  now.  The  first  postmaster  was  Moses  Christy  and  he  kept  the  office  in 
the  same  store.  The  room  over  the  post  oi¥ice  was  occupied  by  Amos  W.  Stockwell  as  a  land  office.  loafer.  Squire 
Stockwell,  as  he  was  called,  was  postmaster.  On  Merchants'  row  were  Jerome  Wells  &  Co,  Daniel  W.  Millard  being 
the  company,  Shumway,  De.Kter  Wells,  the  news  room  of  E.  F.  Brown,  Nathaniel  Cutler,  W'ells  I'v:  Goodwin,  later  Bagg 
&  Goodwin,  H.  Hutchins,  Volney  Mitchell.  J.  T.  Dow,  C.  P.  Kimball,  with  John  B.  Wood  for  a  clerk,  M.  Cavanaugh, 
and  T.  H.  Ringgold,  a  colored  barber.  This  Ringgold  was  a  run-away  slave  and  found  his  way  to  this  place.  Some 
of  the  citizens  here  by  subscription  raised  the  sum  of  S500,  his  owner's  price,  and  bought  his  freedom.  I  ha\  e  heard 
that  his  son  George  was  in  line  to  shake  hands  with  Gov.  Robinson  when  he  took  the  ofifice  of  governor  of  the  state, 
and  in  passing  with  the  hand  shake  said  :  "  Here's  for  Chicopee."  The  GoAernor  was  surprised,  but  immediately 
recognized  him.  I'nder  the  I'niversalist  church  were  the  stores  of  Orrin  Lawrence,  M.  Lingman  &  Son,  and  Sterling 
&  Paige. 

Exchange  street  was  called  Ferry  street  and  extended  down  to  the  ferry,  which  here  crossed  the  Connecticut 
river.  A  two  story  frame  house,  owned  and  occupied  by  ISenning  Lea\itt  while  he  lived,  was  on  the  corner  of  Center 
and  Ferry  streets.     That  building  later  was  made  into  stores  and  is  still  standing  tiiere.     Mr.  Benning  l.eavitt  was 


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RESIDENCE  OF   HENRY  A.    BAILEY,   CHICOPEE   FALLS. 

57 


engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  bobbins  for  a  number  of  years  He  was  a  man  highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
His  son,  Daniel  l.eavitt,  was  another  prominent  citizen.  Wentworth's  block  next  had  a  number  of  stores,  occupied 
by  William  E.  Wentworth,  afterward  Wentworth  &  Taylor,  Milo  &  H.  F.  Brown,  and  !•;.  T.  &  T.  H.  Taylor.  Other 
merchants  were  William  G.  Bliss,  S.  F.  Williams,  Smith  and  Amory  Doolittle,  J.  S.  Robbins,  ticket  agent  at  the  depot, 
with  David  Folsom  at  his  right  hand,  C.  F.  Kent,  E.  B.  Haskell,  William  H.  Clark,  John  I'arshley,  Asel  Sherman,  Mrs. 
Wait,  millinery,  Asa  Remington,  J.  1!.  Underwood,  Lewis  Cutler,  ['^lisha  BuUens  &  Co.,  J.  Marshall,  Shaw  &  Wood- 
worth,  gold  and  silversmiths,  Wright  &  Culver,  and  Isaac  Bullens  &  Co.,  three  brothers  being  the  company. 

This  family  came  from  Newton  in  1836-S  by  stage  and,  being  machinists,  worked  for  a  while  at  the  Ames 
shops.  In  a  short  time  Isaac  and  Ira  M.  ojiened  a  meat  market  in  Ferry's  block,  and  Amaziah  was  employed  there. 
Later  they  bought  the  land  between  Cabot  and  Miller  streets,  and  built  a  brick  building  on  the  corner  of  Cabot  and 
opened  a  dry  goods,  groceries  and  boot  and  shoe  store,  also  crockery — for  the  merchants  at  that  time  kept  a  general 
assortment  of  everything  needed  in  a  family.  Later  they  built  a  frame  addition  on  Cabot  street,  and  had  a  market ; 
but  Robert  &  Burgess  soon  succeeded  them  in  that  business.  I'^lisha  had  a  store  for  drugs  and  medicines.  He 
built  his  house  on  a  part  of  this  land,  and  li\ed  in  it  until  he  was  ready  to  erect  the  large  brick  block  which  is  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  C.  .\.  Bullens  and  others.  Ira  M.  withdrew  from  the  store  of  Isaac  &  Co.  and  opened  a 
boot  and  shoe  store,  with  books  and  stationery.  He  was  one  of  the  assessors  for  several  years  ;  also  was  one  of  the 
first  to  petition  for  the  act  dividing  Springfield,  so  that  Cabotville  might  be  incorporated  a  town  of  itself. 

Mention  may  be  made  here  of  some  of  the  clerks  employed  by  Isaac  Bullens  &  Co.,  as  many  of  the  names  are 
quite  familiar.  F.  F.  Steadman,  James  L.  Burgess,  the  late  Flbridge  Brigham,  of  the  firm  of  Tinkham  &  Brigham, 
Springfield  ;  the  late  Mahlon  I^.  Spaulding,  of  Boston  ;  also  John  A.  and  Justin  Spaulding,  J.  \.  Carter,  John  Babcock, 
•Aaron  Goodell,  the  late  .Andrew  Hunter,  afterwards  postmaster,  and  Oliver  Pond. 

Isaac,  Ira  and  Amaziah  bought  land  adjoining  the  old  cemetery  and  laid  it  out  in  lots  for  burial,  selling  them 
as  they  were  needed.     They  gave  it  the  name  of  Maple  Grove  cemetery. 

George  F.  Pease,  in  the  building  known  as  the  .Arcade,  west  of  the  Eagle  hotel,  sold  stoves  and  tinware,  and 
later  Philander  Streeter  occupied  the  same  store.  Further  down  were  Mrs.  Collins,  inillinery,  Mr.  Tucker's  variety 
store,  Benjamin  E.  Ballord  and  Wheeler  &  Claggett. 

On  the  north  side  of  Ferry  street,  and  ne.xt  to  the  Cabot  hall  building,  J.  P.  Searle  kept  a  harness  and  trunk 
manufactory.     The  livery  stables  of  Alonzo  Wait,  with  William  Wheeler  and  Winkley  &  Ingraham,  then  Albert  Wait, 

58 


'1,%^     -A 


RESIDENCE   OF   MRS.  SAMUEL   BLAISDELL. 
59 


were  next.     In  a  little  one-story  building,  painted  green,  Richard  Collins  had  a  small  store.     Below  Cabot  street  W. 
L  &  J.  W.  Hitchcock  made  and  repaired  boots  and  shoes,  and  George  P.  Baldwin  sold  dry  goods  in  the  same  building. 

On  Cabot  street  in  the  building  of  the  Dennison  market,  were  C.  V.  &  L.  Lane  and  Branch  &  Skeele.  Later,  in 
the  little  brown  building  next,  the  book  and  stationery  store  of  C.  V.  Lane.  Clark  Albro,  with  his  son  Emilius,  sold 
groceries  in  their  little  store  under  the  Baptist  church.  Mrs.  Hutchins  had  millinery  in  her  parlor  opposite  the 
Unitarian  church. 

Center  street  had  its  share  of  business.  The  furniture  wareroom  of  Moses  G.  Whitney  was  first  door  south 
of  the  Universalist  church  in  a  two  story  brick  building  known 
as  Mechanics'  block.  Afterwards  the  firm  name  in  this  busi- 
ness was  Chapin,  Whitney  &  Gowdy.  Mr.  Whitney  was  the 
undertaker  and  Mason  I).  Whitaker  owned  and  always  went 
with  the  hearse.  The  first  hall  was  in  this  block  and  was 
called  Mechanic's  hall.  Near  by  was  the  meat  market  of  W. 
W.  Johnson  and  later  of  J.  W.  McClench,  the  blacksmith 
shop  of  S.  Crouch  and  the  paint  shop  of  S.  &  H.  Churchill. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  were  Frost  &  Robinson, 
carriage  and  harness  manufacturers,  and  Moore  &:  Miller, 
livery  stable.  D.  M.  Moore,  familiarly  called  Capt.  Moore, 
was  also  an  auctioneer.  G.  M.  liigelow  soap  works  and  Ladd 
Brothers  bakery.  This  business,  since  the  I.adds  left  it,  has 
been  successfully  carried  on  by  W.  C.  U'edge,  and  his  inven- 
tion of  the  rotary  oven  is  praiseworthy. 

On  Springfield  street,  Cieorge  H.  Chapman  with  Fred  Atkins  made  monev  in  their  brush  factory.  Jonathan 
Pease  represented  dry  goods,  using  part  of  his  house  for  a  store.  Miss  Hancock,  later  Mrs.  Dr.  Dennison,  had  a  dress- 
maker's establishment,  and  a  busy  place  it  was.  Half  way  up  the  hill  was  James  Lyon's  apothecary  store  ;  a  picture 
of  the  Good  Samaritan  on  his  sign  gave  the  proprietor  the  same  name.  R.  B.  Inshaw,  engraver  and  gunsmith,  was 
located  in  this  vicinity.  The  Cabot  House  was  represented  by  the  Chapins,  lately  of  the  Massasoit,  then  by  Madison 
Kendall,  who  also  owned  the  stage  line  between  Chicopee  Falls  and  Springfield.     The  brick  block  west  of  the  Cabot 

60 


CHICOPEE    STREET— THE   OLD    CHAPIN    HOMESTEAL 


House,  called  Chapin's  block,  was  occupied  by  T.  S.  Morgan,  J,  H.  Dickinson  and  Liberty  Jenks,  father  of  A.J. 
Jenks.  The  upper  room  or  hall  was  used  for  meetings,  entertainments  and  balls.  I  have  recendy  seen  an  invitation, 
for  a  gentleman  and  his  partner,  to  a  blowing  out  ball  to  be  held  in  Chapin's  hall,  March  the  20th,  commencing  at 
4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  names  of  the  managers  were  Erastus  Stebbins,  Orrin  Dudley,  Henry  Goff,  Wm.  P. 
Winkley  and  others.  The  lighting  up  and  blowing  out  balls  were  the  events  of  the  season.  The  mills  from  Septem- 
ber 20th  until  March  20th  were  lighted,  and  run  until  7.30  o'clock,  and  a  ball  at  the  beginning  and  ending  was  in  order. 

Dr.  Bemis  was  the  first  physician.  Dr.  Amos  Skeele  lived  in  Chicopee  street.  His  charges  for  visiting  a  patient 
were  moderate,  12  1-2  cents  for  the  visit  and  10  cents  a  mile  for  the  distance  he  had  to  go.  Dr.  Perry  also  lived  in 
Chicopee  street,  but  came  over  to  this  side  of  the  river  and  built  the  house  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Charles  Smith  on  the 
ground  where  ex-Governor  Robinson's  house  now  stands.  A  story  is  told  of  Dr.  Perry  which  is  amusing  and,  perhaps, 
encouraging,  A  patient  was  talking  with  him  of  the  unhealthy  season  of  spring.  The  doctor  straightened  up  and 
said  :  "  My  friend,  1  have  always  observed  that  if  I  lived  through  the  month  of  March,  I  did  not  die  that  year."  Drs. 
Ellis,  Bridgman,  Dennison,  Jacobs  and  Pearsons  soon  located  here.  I^r.  J.  H.  Williams  and  Dr.  Tyler  were  dentists. 
Dr.  Lovejoy  and  Dr.  Morgan  coming  later.  Dr.  Porter  has  been  in  business  some  thirty-eight  years  here,  a  longer 
time  than  any  one  still  doing  business,  with  the  exception  of  John  McKeon,  near  the  lunction. 

The  first  daguerreotype  taken  in  the  United  States  was  taken  here  by  A.  S.  Southworth,  who  is  now  an  expert 
in  handwriting  in  Boston.  The  first  case  of  daguerreotypes  ever  hung  out  in  Boston  was  taken  here.  They  were 
hung  there  on  the  day  that  Harrison  was  inaugurated  President  in  1S41.  L.  G.  Blaisdell  gave  lessons  in  music  for  a 
long  time  in  a  room  in  Cabot  hall  block. 

Many  merchants  of  later  years  might  be  mentioned  who  have  died,  removed  from  town,  or  retired  :  Josiah 
Whitney,  M.  L.  Vounglove,  L.  Temple,  Avery  and  John  A.  Dennison,  Joseph  Stackpole  and  C.  H.  Merrick.  Moved 
from  town  :  D.  F.  Hale,  Springfield  ;  R.  T.  Oakes,  Holyoke  ;  Isaac  and  (ieorge  Allen,  Boston  ;  G,  Marsh,  Ware,  and 
H.  Rice,  Belchertown.  Mr.  Oakes  was  very  active  in  church  work,  making  a  great  specialty  of  the  Sunday  school,  of 
which  he  was  for  a  long  time  superintendent.  During  this  time  he  published  a  church  paper  called  Our  Motithlv, 
and  which  contained  interesting  historical  sketches  by  old  residents,  Silas  Mosman,  Hiram  Munger,  W.  L.  Bemis  and 
others.     Samuel  Parshley  and  J.  M.  Lane  have  retired  from  business. 

The  Inshaw  place  on  Springfield  street  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque,  as  well  as  an  old  landmark,  and  the 
pictures  of  the  house  and  former  occupant  are  excellent. 

61 


RICHARD    B.    INSHAW. 


About  the  year  1836  Richard  B.  Inshaw  and  family  came 
to  Cabotville  from  New  York  city  to  take  charge  of  the  fine 
engraving  of  the  then  flourishing  N.  P.  Ames  works.  He 
was  one  of  the  best  silver  engravers  in  the  country,  a  man  of 
rare  ability  and  taste  in  his  artistic  line.  Among  the  many 
fine  pieces  of  work  was  the  splendid  presentation  sword  given 
General  Winfield  Scott  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war.  He 
was  a  very  generous,  social  man,  fond  of  hunting  and  sports, 
quite  authority  in  such  matters.  The  story  goes  that  at  one 
time  he  kept  forty  fine  sporting  dogs — and  what  with  rare 
birds  and  choice  animals  made  his  home  a  great  attraction 
to  the  villager,  and  possibly  a  nuisance  to  his  immediate 
neighbors.  Both  he  and  his  wife,  Mary  Pool,  were  English, 
and  the  little  picturesque  cottage  was  a  typical  English  home, 
built  in  then  a  rich  farming  community,  with  a  c^uaint,  old- 
fashioned  cider  mill  on  the  ground  beside  it.  The  dwellers 
of  the  sleepy  hamlet  felt  indeed  fine  when  the  first  oil  lamp 
(lashed  upon  the  "  down  street  "  favored  folks.  Then  slowly 
came  camphine,  fluid,  kerosene,  gas,  and  now  the  brilliant 
electric  light  and  cars  seem  more  of  a  necessity  than  a  lu.vury. 
There-were  no  bridges  and  the  C'hicopee  was  forded  and  the 
creeping  horse  boat  was  run  to  West  Springfield  down  at 
-Vshley  Ferry  where  now  is  the  Connecticut  bridge.  The  house 
remains  much  as  when  built,  the  door  plate  just  the  same — 
but  grand  houses  and  much  wealth  quite  overshadow  "  the 
little  yellow  cottage."  The  youngest  son,  Richard  B.,  with 
his  family,  and  the  oldest  daughter,  .\nn  Inshaw  Wing,  are 
now  livinu  there  and  often  tell  of  the  then  and  now.     The 


62 


RESIDENCE  OF   THE   LATE   RICHARD   B.    INSHAW. 
63 


NATHAN    P.    AMES, 


family  were  strong  F'l]Mscopalians  and  the  forming  of  Grace 
Episcopal  Church  under  Rev.  Charles  Fisher  was  in  a 
great  measure  due  to  their  efforts,  which  denomination  was 
hardly  the  proper  thing  at  that  time,  as  the  Puritan  feel- 
ing was  still  very  strong  in  New  England,  and  to  be  a 
"  I^iscopal  "  was  a  thing  to  be  spoken  of  in  tones  of  de- 
rision, but  times  and  ideas  have  changed  since  then,  and 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  Newton  ?!lack  the  little  church  is 
again  in  a  prosperous  condition. 

THE  AMES  FAMILY  AND  COMPANY. 

More  than  loo  years  ago  (in  1791)  Nathan  Peabody 
Ames,  a  hard-working  blacksmith  who  put  thought  into  his 
work,  was  plying  his  trade  at  Chelmsford,  on  the  Merri- 
mac,  where  since  has  grown  the  busy  city  of  Lowell.  He 
is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  use  the  water  power  at  that 
place,  making  edged  tools  and  cutlery.  In  18 10  the  shop 
was  burned,  and  he  started  a  nail  factory  in  Dedhani.  Here 
his  son,  James  Tyler  Ames,  was  born.  We  quote  from  a 
letter  of  Mr.  Simon  Southworth  :  "In  1S29  the  cutlery 
business  was  again  begun  in  Chelmsford,  being  transferred 
to  Nathan  P.  Ames,  Jr.,  who  made  a  tour  of  the  country 
as  far  as  ^Vashington,  returning  by  way  of  the  Hudson  and 
stage  to  Boston.  There  was  a  midnight  supper  and  change 
of  horses  at  the  Springfield  tavern,  and  but  two  passen- 
gers that  night  to  leave  Springfield—  Mr.  Ames  and  Edmund 
Dwight,  of  Boston — the  former  a  young  man  of  2S,  the  latter 
already  a  capitalist   engaged  in  manufacture  at  Chicopee 

64 


Falls,  his  country  home.  The  Dwight  mills  and  streets  in  Chicopee  and  Holyoke  were  named  in  his  honor.  Mr. 
Ames  had  an  e.xpression  of  intense  honesty,  which  always  inspired  confidence  at  sight,  and  before  morning  a  contract 
was  made  by  which  the  Ames  brothers  were  to  come  to  Chicopee  Falls  and  start  their  old  business  of  tools  and 
cutlery,  Mr.  Dwight  furnishing  a  shop,  machinery  and  water  power  where  the  ]>amb  Manufacturing  Company  is  now 
situated.  No  rent  was  ever  accepted.  This  lasted  about  four  years,  when  the  '  Lower  Privilege,'  afterward  Cabot- 
ville  and  now  Chicopee,  began  to  be  improved.  In  1S34  the  Ames  Company  was  organized,  with  lames  K.  Mills 
and  Edmund  Dwight  and  a  capital  of  §30,000,  and  buildings  erected  on  the  present  site.  The  following  year  N.  P. 
Ames  subscribed  $5,000  towards  the  first  building  of  the 
Third  Congregational  church,  it  being  at  that  time  one- 
half  of  his  personal  estate. 

"Small  tools  of  steel — hatchets,  knives  and  chisels 
— were  made  first,  and  the  workmanship  earned  such  a 
reputation  that  counterfeits  of  cast  iron  were  made  in 
England  and  sent  here  to  be  sold.  Coming  with  the 
Ames  brothers  from  Lowell  were  Madison  Kendall  and 
James  K.  Fletcher.  The  first  tempering  of  sword  blades 
was  done  by  them,  and  continued  for  many  years. 

"  .^mong  the  early  comers  was  Ethan  Chapin,  who 
afterwards  kept   the   Cabot  House,  and   later   made   the  '     ' 

Massasoit  House  famous.  original  works,  ames  manufacturing  company,  1328. 

"  The  first  regulation  army  and  navy  swords  were  made  by  the  company,  many  of  them  being  on  exhibition 
at  Homer  Foot's  store.  p:xquisite  presentation  swords  were  made  for  ofPcers  of  the  Mexican  and  Civil  wars,  and 
many  historic  names  have  been  engraved  on  jeweled  hilts  sent  from  the  shop  by  the  river,  and  now  are  among  the 
cherished  relics  of  the  heroes  who  gave  all  of  life  to  their  country.''' 

"  Gun  machinery  was  made  for  England  and  Crermany,  and  late  in  the  30's  they  began  casting  bells  for  public 
buildings.     The   City   Hall  bell,  New  York,  weighing  over  8,000  pounds  and   6  feet  high,  was   hung  with  a  great 


Among  them  being  Generals  Scott,  Grant,  Butler,  Worth,  Taylor,  Banks,  Caleb  Gushing  and  Zachaiy  Taylor 

65 


celebration,  and  another  was  the  Episcopal  church  bell  in  Hartford,  at  that  time  being  the  'largest  and  best  bell  in 

New  England,'  and  those  of  the  Third  Congregational  church  and  old  high  school,  the  latter  being  presented  by  N. 

P.  Ames.  In  1X36  the  founding  of  bronze  cannon  was  begun,  and  the  manufacture  of  leather  belting,  military  accou- 
trements and  artillery  harness  and  turbine  water  wheels  came  later 
In  1840  N.  P.  Ames  went  to  Europe  with  a  commission  from  the 
Tnited  States  Ordnance  Department  to  visit  the  arsenals  and  gun 
factories,  with  a  view  to  introducing  the  best  to  be  had  into  the 
I'nited  States  armories.  While  witnessing  the  funeral  of"  Napoleon 
Mr.  .Ames  contracted  a  cold,  which,  aggravated  by  poisoning  from 
amalgam  paste,  cost  years  of  suffering,  and  death  came  in  1847.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  James  I'yler  .Ames. 

"  In  1853  it  became  the  turn  of  the  British  government  to  send 
I'ut  a  commission  to  learn  the  latest  improvements  in  gimmaking 
machinery,  .\fter  a  careful  examination  of  the  best  devices  in  use 
in  the  United  States,  a  large  contract  was  made  with  the  .Ames  Com- 
pany to  furnish  improved  machinery  for  the  English  armories.  'I'he 
same  year  a  venture  was  made  which  not  a  few  of  the  most  sanguine 
friends  of  the  company  predicted  would  result  in  disaster  and  ruin 
its  almost  unrivaled  reputation.  This  was  nothing  less  than  the 
attempt  to  introduce  into  the  United  States  the  founding  of  bronze 
art  work,  and  workmen  were  brought  from  luirope.  'I'he  signal 
success  which  followed  proved  the  farsightedness  of  Mr.  Ames  and 
his  advisers.  The  bronzes  were  immediately  recognized  as  possess- 
ing unmistakable  artistic  merit  and,  placed  in  competition  with  the 
best  Euro]jean  products,  all  criticism  was  silenced,  and  the  demand 
grew  rapidly. 
"The  first  bronze  statue  cast  by  the  Ames  Company  was  that  of   ISenjamin    franklin,  placed  in  front  of  the 

Pioston  Citv  Hall.     The  workmen  went  to  the  unveiling  ceremonies  in  a  special  train  by  the  Boston  lS;  Worcester 

66 


JAMES   T-    AMES. 


and  Western  railroads,  and  it  was  an  occasion  always  remembered  by  them.  Other  well-known  works  were  the 
equestrian  statues  of  Washington  in  Boston  Public  (hardens  and  Union  Square,  New  York  City,  the  Lincoln  monument, 
Springfield,  111.,  statue  of  the  "Minute  Man,"  at  Concord  bridge,  and  the  bronze  doors  at  the  Senate  wing  of  the 
Capitol,  Washington.  It  was  at  the  .'\mes  Company  that  the  process  of  electroplating  was  introduced  into  the  United 
States,  and  Mr.  Charles  B.  Woodworth  was  the  pioneer  plater  of  this  country.  The  silver  services  for  the  Tremont 
House  and  many  other  hotels  were  made  here. 

"In  1858  Mr.  .Ames  visited  Europe  as  agent  of  the  United  States  to  examine  machinery  for  rolling  gun 
barrels.  The  mission  proved  a  remarkably  successful  one,  and 
he  made  purchases  for  Harpers  Ferry  and  Springfield  armories. 
During  the  war  a  force  of  over  700  men  worked  day  and  night 
making  cannon,  swords  and  sabres.  Some  days  as  many  as 
1,000  swords  were  turned  out.  Without  the  improvements 
thus  introduced  only  a  small  portion  of  the  guns  required  by 
the  war  could  have  been  furnished.  The  bronze  tablets  at 
the  entrance  of  the  City  Hall  were  made  here  During  the 
FrancoT^russian  war  the  company  received  orders  from  the 
French  government  for  about  100,000  sabres,  and  from  the 
Turkish  government  for  236,000  sabres  to  equip  their  army  for 
the  Russian  war.  Until  1880  the  business  was  conducted 
as  a  department  of  the  .Ames  Company,  but  the  magnitude  of 
the  sword  business  made  it  desirable  to  form  a  separate  interest 
of  it.  .\  new  corporation  was  formed  by  the  stockholders,  and 
they  purchased  adjoining  property,  into  which  the  sword  business  was  moved  and  established  as  the  Ames  Sword 
Company,  and  was  for  many  years  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Justin  P.  Woodworth.  Mr.  James  T.  Ames  retired 
from  the  management  of  the  business  in  1874,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in-law,  Hon.  Albert  C.  Woodworth,  for 
more  than  ten  years,  and  during  this  time  the  Victor  bicycle  and  Eldridge  sewing  machine  were  manufactured  by  the 
company.     Mr.  .Ames  died  Feb.  16,  1883. 

"The  Ames  brothers  were  men  of  great  genius,  untiring  energy  and  high  Christian  character.     The  highest 

67 


RESIDENCE   OF  THE    LATE   JOHN    CHASE. 


interest  of  the  church  was  aUvavs  dear  to  their  hearts.  They  were  earnest  teachers  in  the  Sunday  School.  Devoted 
lovers  of  art  and  natural  science,  they  collected  many  \aluable  minerals,  and  presented  specimens  to  the  Ikitish 
Museum,  Smithsonian  Institution,  Harvard,  Vale  and  other  colleges  and  schools.  In  the  old  (]iiarry  were  found  rare 
specimens  of  fossil  tracks,  which  President  Hitchcock,  of  Amherst,  came  to  gather  up.  The  ])laster  casts  of  the 
Capitol  doors  are  also  in  that  collection.     The  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  by  that  institution  in  1868." 

The  influence  of  the  .Ames  family  on  the  early  life  of  Chicopee  cannot  be  too  highly  estimated.  The  young 
town  was  largely  shaped  by  them  in  company  with  other  leading  spirits  of  the  time.  That  their  interests  and  best 
efforts  were  identical  with  those  of  the  town  they  so  ably  represented  was  fortunate  for  all  concerned.  If  any  move 
helped  Chicopee,  that  was  sufficient  for  the  .Ameses  ;  they  were  ready  to  aid  and  abet  it  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  of 
which  they  had  a  large  share.  In  business,  social  life,  religion,  in  public  interests,  it  was  always  their  willing  hands 
which  gave  the  new  idea  its  first  impetus. 

The  old  home  at  the  corner  of  Front  and  Crape  streets,  beautified  by  the  hand  of  the  original  owner,  who 
collected  rare  plants  which  have  received  the  kindest  care  from  his  descendants,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  places 
in  Chicopee.  The  same  hospitable  spirit  characterizes  the  place,  the  same  wish  to  aid  Chicopee  in  all  her  ambitions. 
The  present  occupants  are  Mrs.  James  T.  .Ames,  a  venerable  lady,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Woodworth,  her  daughter,  and  Mrs.  G. 
H.  Hale  and  her  little  daui^hter,  making  four  generations  living  in  the  old  home. 


68 


WILLIMANSETT. 


isf-^ 


"^/thl.LIMANSETT,    gen- 
'Jl  'X      erally  defined,  "  is  a 
small  hamlet  at  the  northerly 
end  of  Chicopee  street  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Connecticut  river, 
and  opposite  Holyoke ;    its  interests 
are  principally  agricultural."    This  but 
N'aguely  describes  the  ambitious  "  ham- 
let," where,  while  it  is  true  that  agricul- 
tural  interests   have   and   do   hold   sway, 
Willimansett  people  have  manifested  an  enter- 
prising spirit  and   proved  themselves  a  worthy 
iart  of  the  municipality  of  Chicopee.     'I'he  main 
interest  of  this  division  of  the  city  follows  the  old 
road  extending  from  the  new  bridge  and  the  South 
Hadley  line  to  Chicopee  street,  and  from  which  other 
roads  reach  out,  affording  excellent  communication  with 
adjacent  places.     The  electric  road,  opened  in  the  spring 
of  1895,  follows   the  main  road  through  ^Villimansett  and 
extends  over  the  hill,  connecting  with  the  lines  to  Springfield 
at  Chicopee  Falls.     A  number  of  houses  standing  by  this  road- 
side testify  to  the  antiquity  of  the  place  and  the  eminent  respectability  of 
its  inhabitants.     Here,  near  the  station,  and  occupied  by  the  family  of  J.  B. 
Stratton,  whose  wife  is  a  daughter  of.  the  house,  stands  the  pleasant,  large  house  used  by  Joseph  Griswold  for  a  tavern 
in  the  days  when  its  hospitality  was  known  up  and  down  the  road  for  many  miles.     An  old  sign,  still  treasured, 

69 


KtSIDENCE  OF  J.    B.   STRATTON. 


70 


shows  the  name  and  object  of  the  building.  The  house  is  at  least  105  years  old,  and  was  kept  as  a  tavern  until 
Captain  Griswold's  death  in  1822.  The  Griswold  family  has  an  honorable  historic  record,  and  can  trace  their  descent 
directly  to  the  first  governor  of  Connecticut, 

The  next  man  to  entertain  the  public  was  Clossen  Pendleton.  His  tavern  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  farther  down  the  road,  and  in  the  north  front  room  is 
unmistakable  proof  of  its  antiquity,  the  useful  "corner"  cup- 
board. Later,  the  Pendleton  family  moved  into  the  present 
family  homestead  just  above  the  old  inn.  In  the  Pendleton 
house  live  the  two  daughters,  Miss  Helen  Pendleton  and  Mrs. 
Ci.  Tourtelotte,  who  worthily  maintain  the  prestige  of  the  place. 

Tall  trees  guard  it  in  front,  a 
fringe  of  forest  trees  extends 
along  the  river  bank,  across  the 
sheen  of  water  sparkle  the  lights 
of  a  modern  city,  before  it  hum 
the  electric  cars,  and  the  old 
places  accept  the  changes  with 
dignified  indifference.  The  in- 
novations  and   methods  of   the 

present  time  are  nothing  to  them.  They  know  and  have  seen  important  things  in  their 
lifetime.  If  they  could  speak  what  tales  they  could  tell.  Sometime  they  will  move  back 
from  the  old  street  and  will  become  an  insignificant  part  of  some  new  building,  or, 
]>erhaps,  will  merge  their  individuality  into  some  thoughtless  modern  structure.  Still, 
they  have  served  their  day  and  generation,  and  by  a  kindly  dispensation  of  the  fates 
their  usefulness  has  extended  far  beyond  the  period  allotted  to  their  original  owners. 
What  more  can  they  or  anyone  desire  ? 

Upon  the  hill  called  Prospect,  and  with  good  reason,  once  stood  the  first  schoolhouse  erected  in  Willimansett 
district,  which  was  the  joy  or  aversion  of  the  youth  of  that  time  as  their  individual  tastes  dictated.     Of  this  building 

71 


THE    FIRST   SCHOOL  HOUSE. 


"deestrict  SCHOOLMARM  ' 


MAIN   STREET. 


72 


very  little  has  come  down  through  the  village  history.  No  picture  of  it  was  extant,  and  the  cut  presented  is  taken 
from  a  wooden  model  which  was  sketched,  then  photographed,  then  engraved,  and  the  result  gives  the  regulation 
school  building  of  1700. 

Still  standing  are  the  old  residence  of  Deacon  Newton  Day,  whose  last  occii|>ant  and  member  of  the  family 
was  the  late  Mrs.  Laura  Day,  the 
Amos  Skeele  place,  the  Orange 
Chapin  place,  the  old  Chapin  home 
on  Main  street  below  the  village, 
and  which  was  the  property  of 
Lawyer  Cha])in  up  to  the  time  of  its 
sale,  and  the  old  Abbey  home,  now 
occupied  by  Joseph  Stone. 

I^ater,  the  schoolhouse  of 
brick  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
and  when  the  Connecticut  River 
Railroad  Company  desired  to  run 
its  glittering  new  rails  before  its 
very  door  in  1842,  the  management 
bought  it  for  a  station,  gi\ing  the 
town  another  brick  building  in  the 
south,  which,  after  two  additions, 
became  the  present  creditable  struc- 
ture used  for  educational  purposes, 
and  which  stands  just  opposite  the 
Stratton  house.  The  trees  in  the  yard  were  planted  under  the  superintendence  of  Deacon  Orange  Chapin,  one  of  the 
most  faithful  citizens,  who  served  his  generation  well  in  many  capacities,  especially  as  justice  of  the  peace. 

The  first  white  settlers  of  the  village  were  Abel  Chapin  and   his  wife,  Hannah  Hitchcock.     He  was  the  great 
grandson  of  Samuel  Chapin  and  grandson  of  Japhet,  who  settled  in  Chicopee.     He  lived  in  a  house  which  stood  on  Mrs. 


wiLLiMANserr  station. 


73 


OLD   PENDLETON    HOME. 


74 


Bannister's  land  nearly  between  her  two  houses.  I'he  first  item  regarding  industries  which  seems  to  be  authentic  is  that 
relating  to  the  establishment  of  a  saw  mill,  and  very  probably  a  grist  mill,  which  stood  below  the  hill  and  was  run  by  power 
gathered  by  damming  the  brook  very  near  the  place  where  James  Emerson  built  his  dam  in  1875  for  the  water  works  con- 
nected with  Mr.  Bardwell's  house.  The  traces  of  a  dam  were  easily  recognizable,  and  inquiry  disclosed  the  fact  that  these 
works  belonged  to  a  generation  living  at  the  time  of  the  war  of  1S12.  The  site  of  the  powder  mill,  which  was  quite  a 
prosperous  business  63  years  ago,  is  still  kept  in  mind  by  Powder  Mill  Brook  Station,  where  are  now  two  brick  yards. 
The  greatest  prosperity  was  enjoyed  during  1830-40.  At  that  time  Mr.  S.  C.  Bemis,  resident  of  Springfield,  and  her 
war  mayor,  was  quite  largely  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  hardware,  using  three  forges,  and  employing  100  men. 
This  was  of  the  best  kind,  specimens  of  which  can  be  seen  in  some  W'illimansett  homes  to-day.  Later,  Willis  Phelps 
run  a  woolen  mill  here.  The  most  prosperous  business  was  during  the  war,  when  Jared  Beebe  gave  the  "  Valley  Mill," 
as  he  called  it,  the  credit  of  laying  the  foundation  of  his  fortune.  This  manufacturing  plant  was  twice  burned  down. 
Otis  Skeele  had  a  shoe  shop  in  what  is  now  the  double  tenement  house,  this  being  joined  at  its  eastern  corner  to  the 
western  corner  with  the  other  part  of  the  house,  which  was  then  used  as  a  hotel. 

The  river,  besides  its  fishing  interests,  was  utilized  for  freighting  by  the  Valley  Company  and  another  corpora- 
tion organized  among  the  farmers  of  the  western  side  of  the  river.  At  one  time  Mr.  John  Mulligan  of  the  C.  R.  R.  R. 
and  Mr.  Horace  Wright  worked  on  the  same  boat. 

The  post  ofifice  was  removed  from  Chicopee  street  in  the  thirties.  As  Chicopee  Centre  had  become  a  manufac- 
turing place  it  was  established  there.  Mr.  Sylvester  .Allen  was  the  first  postmaster,  followed  by  Clossen  Pendleton, 
Paschal  J.  Newell,  O.  C.  Towne,  and  the  present  incumbent,  Michael  Fitzgerald,  has  served  for  a  number  of  years. 

The  first  boat  landing  was  built  in  1751.  This  was  for  the  accommodation  of  freight  boats,  and  was 
succeeded  by  another  built  in  1S12.  The  South  Ferry  was  established  in  1812  or  1813,  and  then  commenced  the 
effort  of  carrying  the  bridging  of  the  river  to  the  lower  location,  the  first  attempt  to  get  a  bridge  across  to  the 
Holyoke  side  being  made  in  1857. 

When  the  first  anti-slavery  vote  was  cast  at  the  annual  election,  out  of  16,  possibly  17,  votes  cast,  Mr.  Sylvester 
Allen  was  one  and  Mr.  Newton  Day  another,  who  in  1848  moved  here  from  Holyoke,  who  cast  abolition  votes.  Dur- 
ing the  exciting  days  that  attended  the  Fugitive  Slave  bill,  Mr.  Otis  Skeele's  house  was  a  station  on  the  underground 
railroad  to  freedom  and  Canada.  Large  delegations  were  sent  to  settle  Kansas  in  the  Free  State  issue,  and  a  good 
complement  went  to  the  civil  war.     The  Ladies'  Aid  also  did  good  service. 

75 


Ever  since  the  days  of  Horatius,  bridges,  their  location  and  possession,  have  called  forth  heroic  efforts  and 
gallant  defense.  The  proportion  in  favor  of  the  Willimansett  bridge  in  its  present  site,  and  those  opposed  to  it, 
occupied  very  much  the  same  relation  to  each  other  as  did  Horatius,  his  immortal  three  and  the  opposing  force.  The 
fight  was  long  and  earnest,  and  the  right  won,  as  proved  by  the  great  usefulness  of  the  bridge  where  it  stands,  a  thing 
of  beauty  and  utility.  The  greatest  success  possible  is  the  increasing  benefit  of  the  project  or  idea  as  shown  in  the 
light  of  the  future,  and  the  \Villimansett  bridge,  though  young,  has  existed  long  enough  to  attain  the  distinction  of 
having  others  see  it  from  its  projectors'  standpoint. 

Early  in  the  contest  a  bridge  association  was  formed  with  Deacon  J.  B.  Stratton  as  president,  and  this  office 
proved  to  be  no  ornamental  one,  for  the  president  w^as  always  one  of  the  most  active  workers,  and  to  him  is  the 
building  of  the  bridge  largely  due. 

January  14,  1886,  the  first  subscription  of  S400,  "for  the  purpose  of  furthering  the  object  of  a  bridge  from 
Willimansett  to  Holyoke,"  was  got  under  way  and  from  this  time  subscription  lists  were  handed  around  as  the  needs 
of  the  cause  called  for.  Since  the  establishment  of  the  railroad  bridge  by  the  Connecticut  R.  R.  R.,  a  passenger  walk 
at  the  side  of  this  had  been  the  only  accommodation,  and  for  this  privilege  a  toll  of  two  cents  was  e.xacted  except  on 
Sunday,  when  the  inhabitants  might  attend  divine  service  free  of  cost  in  Holyoke. 

The  first  agitation  of  moment  in  the  Legislature  was  begun  by  Geo.  D.  Eldridge,  then  representative,  and  he 
proved  a  most  devoted  champion,  and  through  his  efforts  the  opposition,  based  at  that  time  on  a  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  site,  was  thoroughly  aired.  Representative  John  Hildreth,  from  Holyoke,  arrayed  himself  on  the  other  side 
and  fought  Willimansett  with  the  energy  born  of  personal  interest.  He  said  Holyoke  could  not  afford  it,  and  his 
arguments  ably  advanced  kept  the  County  Commissioners  back  when  they  were  disposed  to  build.  This  delay  was 
extended  over  one  year.  The  next  objection  was  the  crossing  of  the  spur  track  on  the  Holyoke  side  at  Cabot  street. 
Ex-Governor  George  D.  Robinson,  council  for  the  opposition,  placed  an  injunction  on  the  building  until  it  could  be 
proven  that  it  was  allowable  to  cross  the  track  at  that  point.  The  Railroad  Commissioners  then  decided  that  they 
could  not  nullify  an  act  of  the  Legislature  and  ]')re-\ent  its  crossing.  The  next  representative  was  Eugene  O'Neil,  of 
Chicopee,  who  espoused  the  bridge  cause  with  such  effective  earnestness  and  worked  so  efficiently,  that  his  name  is 
mentioned  with  gratitude  and  his  services  never  forgotten  by  Willimansett  people.  He  made  it  his  particular  business 
to  see  that  the  bridge  was  built. 

When  all  Holyoke  and  its  allied  powers  joined  in  one  grand  effort  to  move  the  location  farther  south,  the 

76 


conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  was  that  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  mandatory  requiring  the  bridge  to  be  built,  and 
this  gave  any  citizen  the  right  to  take  the  cause  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  case  of  further  delay.  I^awyer  W.  H. 
Brooks,  of  Holyoke,  added  to  his  already  established  reputation  by  his  gallant  protection  of  Willimansett's  interests. 
Opposed  to  him  and  in  the  interests  of  Chicopee,  were  e.\-(.rovernor  (George  1).  Robinson,  the  late  George  iM.  Stearns, 
and  ex-Mayor  McClench.  The  blows  dealt  out  by  Lawyer  Brooks  came  straight  from  his  powerful  shoulder  and  told 
every  time.  There  was  no  wavering,  every  argument  at  command  was  used  and  made  the  most  of,  the  array  of  legal 
talent  massed  against  him  was  beaten  back  and  defeated.  T.  J.  Flannagan  used  time,  influence  and  money  very 
generously  both  in  Holyoke  and  Boston,  and  his  interest  is  gratefully  recognized.  All  through  the  fight,  the  House 
at  Boston  was  largely  in  favor  of  VVillimansett  and  the  Senate  was  the  real  battle  ground. 

When  the  act  ordering  the  building  of  the  bridge  was  passed,  in  the  year  Eldridge  was  representative, 
Willimansett  let  itself  go  in  one  grand  burst  of  enthusiasm,  and  Messrs.  Stratton  and  Eldridge  were  placed  in  a 
carriage  and  drawn  about  the  hamlet  by  the  hands  of  willing  enthusiasts.  The  completion  of  the  bridge  in  1893 
was  grandly  celebrated,  a  part  of  the  grand  time  being  a  lawn  party  at  the  hospitable  home  of  H.  M.  Senior.  Among 
the  many  interesting  events  of  that  evening  was  this  speech  given  by  J.  B.  Stratton  : 

Felloiv  Citizens^  Ladies  am/  Genllenien  : 

The  bridge  between  the  cities  of  Holyoke  and  Chicopee  at  our  beautiful  village  is  now  substantially  completed. 
The  announcement  may  seem  superfluous  to  most  of  us  who  have  been  crossing  and  re-crossing  at  "our  own  sweet 
will"  for  two  weeks  or  more,  or  to  a  larger  number  who  have  witnessed  the  progress  of  the  work  from  the  beginning 
to  its  completion  at  the  present  time. 

The  bridge  has  found  a  quiet  resting  place  ;  no  more,  like  Noah's  do\e,  it  "  flits  between  rough  seas  and 
stormy  skies,"  but  safely  anchored,  it  takes  an  honorable  place  among  the  family  of  bridges  up  and  down  the  beautiful 
Connecticut  river,  well  able  to  bear  all  the  proper  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  the  new  relation. 

We  recall  the  fact,  somewhat  reluctantly,  that  there  did  e.xist  some  difference  of  opinion  on  the  question  of  a 
bridge  at  this  place  —not  really  about  the  need  of  another  bridge  near  this  point — and  also  some  little  difference  about 
the  time  when  it  should  be  built.  LTnlooked  for  delays  settled  the  time  (juestion  for  all,  and  the  bridge,  materialized, 
proves  it  not  an  untimely  birth,  nor  in  the  wrong  place. 

If  time  allowed  we  would  speak  more  fully  of  matters  of  interest  pertaining  to  the  history  of  this  famous  "  Willi- 

77 


mansett  bridge  question,"  but  we  forbear.  This  is  not  like  a  camp  fire,  where  the  soldier  lives  over  again  in  vision  the 
times  that  "  tried  men's  souls,"  and  meets  again,  as  it  were,  in  deadly  encounter  (metaphorically)  on  the  field  of  strife. 
Now  is  the  time  for  the  exercise  of  charity  toward  all  and  malice  toward  none.  Yet  the  curious  can  refresh  their 
memories  by  looking  backward  over  the  musty  files  of  the  local  dailies  for  the  past  four  years,  and  be  assured  that 
there  was  a  wordy  war  much  beyond  anything  occasioned  by  any  question  of  like  character  in  the  past  of  the  state, 
e.Kcept,  perhaps,  by  that  "great  bore,"  Hoosac  Tunnel. 

But  peace  has  her  victories  as  well  as  war.  To-day,  in  the  joy  over  the  happy  realization  of  our  high  hopes 
and  ardent  desires,  we  may  fail  to  honor  all  to  whom  honor  is  due,  but  we  would  not  omit  any.  Willimansett  has 
borne  an  honorable  part  and  her  citizens  are  not  insensible  to  the  kindly  recognition  of  her  services.  We  were 
"  solid  "  on  the  bridge  question,  but  we  do  not  lay  the  flattering  unction  to  our  hearts  that  "  we  got  the  bridge." 
Willimansett  could  not  have  succeeded  alone  ;  but  like  our  revolutionary  fathers  in  their  struggle  for  independence, 
being  sure  we  were  right  we  went  ahead,  and  we,  like  them,  were  favored  with  allies.  .\11  o\er  the  state  we  found 
strong  friends  and  supporters  who  rendered  very  efficient  and  timely  service. 

To  such,  one  and  all,  we  would  say  :  Look  at  the  fine  structure  spanning  the  Connecticut  between  Holyoke 
and  Willimansett  and  see  a  beautiful  monument  in  commemoration  of  your  service. 

It  is  "  the  people's  bridge,  built  for  the  people  by  the  people." 

Allow  me  to  adopt,  as  a  fitting  expression  of  our  feelings  to-night,  the  language  of  one  of  our  own  New 
I'^ngland  poets  : 


And  as  farther  on  we  look,  we  say  : 


Parcel  and  pari  of  all, 
We  keep  this  festival, 
Fore-reach  the  good  lo  be. 
And  share  the  victory. 


Ring,  bells,  in  un-reared  steeples,  We  feel  the  earth  move  siin-ward. 

The  joy  of  unborn  peoples.  We  join  the  great  march  onward, 

Sound,  trumpets,  far  off  blown.  And  take  by  faith  while  living. 

Our  triumph  is  your  own.  (">ur  free-hnld  of  thanksgiving. 

Chicopee  street  is  famous  as  being  the  place  where  the  friction  match  was  invented  by  Philips,  and  here  the 
manufacture  was  carried  on  for  some  years.  The  farms  are  truly  New  England  in  type  and  occupied  by  the  genuine 
New  Englander.     Some  buildings  are  quite  old  and  bear  the  dignified  marks  of  age. 

78 


Beulah  Chapel,  an  offspring  from  the  Second  Baptist  Church,  Holyoke,  was  dedicated  Jan.  24,  188S,  and 
organized  as  a  church  in  1893  with  a  membership  of  57.  Though  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Willimansett,  Beulah  is 
the  second  of  that  denomination  in  Chicopee.  The  first  was  organized  in  Chicopee  Falls,  and  being  most  convenient 
for  all  the  Baptists  of  South  Hadley  Falls  and  Willimansett,  they  first  met  in  the  schoolhouse  then  standing  in  Prospect 
street  and  then  completed  the  beginning  of  the  new  church.     Deacon  J.  B.  Stratton,  who  has  discharged  the  duties  of 

deacon  in  his  church  at  (Irafton,  and  later  in  the  ^ 

Second  Baptist  and  in  Beulah,  in  company  with 
others,  conveyed  the  land  for  the  chapel,  and  with 
his  son,  Homer,  has  ever  been  most  active  in  its 
support. 

Rev.  Edward  Smith  Ufford,  pastor  of  Beulah 
Church,  is  widely  known  throughout  this  and  other 
countries  by  his  famous  song,  "  Throw  Out  the  Life 
Line,"  and  when  he  came  to  Willimansett  his  fame 
rested  on  the  remarkable  success  of  that  composition. 
Since  then,  his  bicycle  sermons  have  attracted  much 
attention  and  have  been  criticised  and  commended. 
To  those  privileged  to  know  Mr.  Ufford  intimately, 
he  is  a  valued  friend  and  faithful  pastor.  His  work 
as  a  preacher  has  a  peculiar  value,  as  he  so  readily 
adapts  his  line  of  argument  to  the  acknowledged 
standard  that  "  sounds  which  address  the  ear  are  lost 
and  die  in  one  short  hour,  while  that  which  meets  the 
eye  lives  long  upon  the  mind,"  and  illustrates  his  topics  freely.  His  course  of  Sunday  evening  sermons  for  this  year, 
1895-96,  takes  up  the  history  of  Joseph  with  original  illustrations. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ufford's  connecdon  with  Beulah  Baptist  Church  began  October  i,  1893,  and  his  stay  in  the  little 
village  of  Willimansett  promises  to  be  one  of  the  most  successful  of  any  of  his  pastorates.  He  went  to  Willimansett 
from  Hingham,  a  preacher  with  nothing  to  characterize  him  except  as  the  composer  of  "  Throw  Out  the  Life  Line,"  a 

79 


BEULAH   CHURCH. 


song  extensively  used  by  both  Moody  and  Sankey.  He  was  a  minister  whom  the  committee  of  the  church  thought 
they  would  like  for  his  evangelical  spirit  and  his  experience  in  this  line  of  religious  work.  While  in  Hingham,  Mr. 
Ufford's  friends  sent  him  to  London  to  attend  the  World's  Sunday  School  Convention  in  1889.  There  he  was 
received  by  the  lord  mayor  at  the  Mansion  House,  and  later  attended  a  party  given  by  the  Earl  and  Countess  of 
Aberdeen  and  also  a  farewell  breakfast  at  Crystal  Palace.  He  was  requested  to  address  a  Swedish  Sunday  school  in 
Liverpool  and  was  obliged  to  converse  with  the  school  through  an  interpreter.  While  in  London  he  visited  many 
places  of  interest  and  spent  much  time  in  the  "  slums  "  of  the  city,  from  which  he  later  wrote  his  lecture,  "  Darkest 
London."  He  has  given  a  number  of  lectures  on  "  Darkest  London"  and  "The  Clay  I'".aters,  the  Poor  Whites  and 
the  Crackers  of  North  Carolina  and  Eastern  Tennessee,"  and  these  lectures  have  been  illustrated  with  calcium  lights 
In  his  lecture  courses  he  has  come  in  contact  with  ex-tlovernor  Long  of  this  state  and  Rev  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark,  the 
founder  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  society. 

Mr.  Ufford  married  Miss  Julie  J.  Ames,  daughter  of  Mark  Ames,  of  .Kjiijleton,  Me.  They  have  three  children, 
one  son  and  two  daughters.  Rev.  Mr.  Ufford  has  had  newspaper  experience  and  has  worked  on  the  Bridgeport 
Standard  and  New  Haven  papers  as  a  compositor  and  has  contributed  to  the  Maine  papers.  His  sister,  Frances  E. 
L'fford,  is  connected  with  a  school  in  North  Carolina.  To  his  wife's  help  he  attributes  much  of  his  success  in  his 
chosen  calling. 

Orange  Chapin  Towne,  an  active  citizen  of  Willimansett,  is  a  native  of  Belchertown,  and  was  born  March  20, 
1823.  He  is  the  son  of  Jonathan  and  Delia  (Rumrill)  Towne.  His  first  ancestor  in  America  was  William  Towne, 
who  was  born  in  England  in  i6oc,  emigrated  to  this  country  in  1664,  came  to  Salem  and  later  moved  to  Topsfield. 
(.)ne  of  his  sons,  Jacob,  of  Topsfield,  was  born  in  England  in  1633,  married  Catherin  Symonds  in  1704.  'Lheir  son 
John  was  born  in  1658,  married  and  reared  a  family  of  ten  children.  He  died  in  Oxford,  Mass.,  in  1740  at  the 
advanced  age  of  82  years.  Llis  son  Israel  was  born  in  1684,  settled  in  Oxford,  Mass  ,  in  1712  and  died  in  1771,  aged 
87  years,  and  had  ten  children.  His  son  Israel,  the  great-grandfather  of  O.  C.  Towne,  was  born  in  1728.  .At  the 
age  of  22,  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Belchertown  upon  which  he  settled,  being  one  of  the  first  to  make  his  home  in  that 
section.  He  died  in  1805,  78  years  old,  having  had  a  family  of  ten  children.  ( ).  Chapin  Towne  was  adopted  into 
the  family  of  Orange  Chapin  at  23  years.  He  married  Miss  Eugenia  Sophia  Tenney,  of  Gill,  and  has  two  children. 
Miss  Florence  E.  and  Frederick  M.,  the  latter  representing  the  firm  of  F.  l!redt  &  Co.,  of  N.  Y.  Mr.  Towne  became 
station  agent  soon  after  his  marriage,  and  in  his  time  the  method  of  taking  freight  from  the  cotton  mills  on  the  Holyoke 

80 


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side  of  the  river  was  to  board  a  freight  train,  load  up  the  car  and  trust  to  the  grade  to  bring  it  back  again  to  the 
Willimansett  side.  Mr.  Tovvne  remembers  the  various  stages  of  the  growth  of  Holyoke,  having  seen  the  remarkable 
progress  since  its  beginning.  His  home  on  the  Main  street  of  Willimansett  is  a  truly  hospitable  place,  delightful  to 
visit,  for  the  ladies  of  the  family  vie  with  each  other  in  making  the  chance  visitor  welcome.  Frederick  Towne  married 
Miss  Amy  Howard  of  Chicopee  and  has  one  daughter,  and  by  reason  of  his  descent  from  early  settlers  is  eligible  for 
membership  in  distinguished  societies  made  up  of  descendants  of  famous  Revolutionary  heroes.  The  Towne  family 
is  one  of  the  best  known  and  influential  in  Willimansett. 

Quartus  ludd  Smith,  a  civil  engineer  and  general  farmer  of  Chicopee,  was  born  at  South  Hadley  Falls  .^iiril  i, 
1828.  His  father,  Luther  Smith,  was  born  in  the  same  town,  of  which  his  grandfather  was,  so  far  as  is  known,  a 
lifelong  resident,  following  agriculture  as  a  vocation.  Luther  Smith  resided  with  his  parents  and  assisted  in  the  farm 
duties  until  after  his  marriage,  when  he  purchased  a  farm  located  in  the  northern  part  of  Chicopee,  which  he  con- 
ducted during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  at  tlie  age  of  65  years.  Lhe  maiden  name  of  his  wife,  the  mother 
of  Quartus  J.  Smith,  was  Susan  Rumrill.  She  was  a  native  of  South  Hadley,  and  daughter  of  A.sa  and  Rhoda  Rumrill. 
Mrs.  Susan  R.  Smith  died  at  the  age  of  77  years,  having  reared  four  children,  viz.,  Quartus  J.,  Luther,  Delia  and 
George.  Quartus  [udd  Smith  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities  in  boyhood  while  acquiring  an  education,  and  at 
the  age  of  20  years  commenced  the  study  of  civil  engineering  in  a  practical  manner  with  Deacon  Orange  Chapin, 
under  whose  instructions  he  obtained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  art  of  surveying,  and  whom  he  shortly  succeeded 
as  the  recognized  civil  engineer  of  these  parts.  At  the  death  of  his  father  he  became  the  owner  of  the  homestead, 
and  later  purchased  the  Wright  farm  adjoining  it,  a  portion  of  which  he  divided  into  house  lots  and  sold  to  good  ad- 
vantage. His  home  farm  consists  of  40  acres,  and  he  also  owns  5  i  acres  on  the  plains  near  by  and  20  acres  at  Fair- 
view,  where  he  is  building  a  house.  In  1S69  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Irene  L.  Atkins,  who  was  born  at 
Holyoke  Aug.  1 1,  1840.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Reuben  Atkins.  'Lheir  union  has  been  blessed  with  three  children, 
as  follows  :  Anna  V.,  wile  of  Frederick  Kidder,  Homer  F.  and  Ceorge  E.  .^  fourth,  Frank,  died  in  infancy.  Mrs. 
Smith  is  one  of  the  constituent  members  of  Beulah  I'japtist  Church.  Mr.  Smith  is  known  as  a  thorough,  reliable  and 
expert  surveyor,  having  been  for  years  quite  extensively  engaged  in  that  line.  Being  a  constant  reader,  he  is  well 
posted  on  general  subjects,  as  well  as  the  various  important  issues  of  the  day.  A  ]wrtrait  of  this  intelligent  and  pro- 
gressive citizen  accompanies  these  meager  notes  of  a  life  of  useful,  manly  toil  and  untiring  activity  of  hand  and 
brain. 

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84 


MODERN  CHICOPEE. 

q-Jr  PLACE  of  so  much  enterprise  and  thrift  could  not  long  remain  an  iuMgn^cant  part  of  another  town  It  must 
A  have  a  separate  existence,  and  "CabotvUle"  and  "  b'actory  Village"  were  merged  into  the  town  of  Chicopee^ 
Of  ourse  this  ch'ange  could  not  be  made  without  some  strong  arguments  for  and  against.  On  the  -^e  opposed  ^o  1 1 
dismemberment  of  the  old  town  as  a  whole  were  very  decided  sentiments  expressed.  A  meeting  was  called  m  Cabot 
Han  on  the  17th  day  of  May,  1S48,  at  1  o'clock  p.  m.  Rev.  Crawford  Nightingale  offered  prayer,  limothy  U. 
Carter  was  chosen  moderator,  and  William  I..  Bemis  clerk. 

Mr  Carter  made  the  decisive  ad.lress  which  soothed  in  a  measure  the  feelings  of  the  opponents  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  town.     His  topic  was  the  duties  of  the  residents  under  the  new  regime,  the  act  incorporating  the 
town  havin-  been  passed  April  25,  1848.     In  fact  he  said  :     "  We  are  now  invested  with  powers  and  duties  which  as 
ood     t      ns  :    a     bonnd'to  exe'rcise  for  the  good  of  the  whole.     Shall  we  not  enter  upon  these  duties  regardless  o 
Sst  differences  of  opinion,  with  a  determination  that  the  new  town  of  Chicopee  shall  sustain  as  high  a  character  fo 
otd     overnment,  order,  and  respectability  as  the  distinguished  town  of  which  she  has  '-etofore  formed  a  par  P 
tve  commence  a  career  among  our  sister  towns  not  a  feeble  organization   first  struggling  into  being,  b"t  at  once  en 
dowed  with  all  the  elements  of  vigor  and  maturity,  with  a  population  and  valuation  second  to  but  one  within  the  limi  s 
of  the  four  western  counties  of  this  Commonwealth.     In  the  exercise  of  strict  economy  m   all  our  ^"M--  ^^^^  ^^ 
fullv  reaardin.  the  rights  of  those  who  are  to  contribute  to  the  government  and  the  various  interests  of  the  town,  v^e 
S  b^  ei    bl^ed  to  p  ovide  amply  for  the  public  convenience  and  all  needful  improvements,  and  bestow  upon  the  poor 
ha   as  iSnce  to  which  by  their  misfortunes  they  are  entitled  at  our  hands;    and,  above  all,  liberally  to  endow  th 
h  d    :    r  outh  with  such  means  of  education  and  moral  improvement  as  shall  accord  with  the  advancing  spir 
of  the  age.     From  this  time  forward  our  destiny,  under  God,  is  in  our  own  hands,  and  praise  or  disgrace  will  b    oui. 
a    we  shlll  discharge  or  neglect  the  duties  we  owe  to  the  present  and  the  future.     Let  us  then  step  forth  upon  this  new 
heltreof  action  with  high  purposes  of  good  toward  ourselves  and  of  benefit  and  ^le-ings  toward  those  who  shal 
succeed  us,  that,  when  1.13  centuries  of    our  history  shall  be  written  .ve  may  have  proved  a  worthv  descendant  of  our 

distinguished  ancestor."  u^u^^t  „;,  •     ^p1p^t- 

At  this  meeting  five  selectmen,  three  assessors,  and  three  school  committeemen  were  chosen  by  ballot,  viz  .     belect 

85 


MAIN    ENTRANCE  TO  CITY    HALL 
66 


men,  Sylvanus  Adams,  Harmon  Rowley,  Ezekiel  Blake,  Amos  W.  Stockwell,  Adolphus  G.  Parker  ;  assessors,  Sylvester 
Allen,  Amaziah  Bullens,  Harmon  Rowley ;  school  committee.  Rev.  Jonah  G.  Warren,  Rev.  Eli  B.  Clark,  Rev.  Robert 
Kellen.  By  the  town  regulations  adopted  in  1S49  the  selectmen,  school  committee,  overseers  of  the  poor,  surveyors 
of  highways  and  treasurer  are  required  to  make  reports  which  are  annually  published. 

The  schools  early  earned  and  ever  afterward  creditably  sustained  an  enviable  reputation  for  thoroughness  and 
liberality  in  the  administration  of  their  affairs. 
The  first  indebtedness  of  the  town  was  created 
in  1849,  when  a  farm  was  purchased  and  an 
almshouse  erected,  amounting  to  §5,061. 72. 
This  farm  was  sold  in  1S60.  In  1877  §15,000 
were  appropriated  by  the  town  for  the  juir- 
chase  of  land  and  the  erection  of  buildings 
thereon  suitable  for  an  almshouse.  J.  R  Wil- 
bur, Madison  Kendall,  William  H.  West,  John 
Dixon  and  William  R.  Kentfield  were  made  a 
committee  to  effect  the  objects  of  the  appro- 
priation. Their  report  shows  that  18  acres 
and  9  square  rods  of  land  a  half-mile  south- 
west from  Chicopee  Falls,  were  the  same  year 
purchased  of  the  heirs  of  R.  E.  Bemis, 
deceased,  for  §2,708.67,  and  that  a  brick 
house  was  erected  thereon,  60x38  feet  with 
two  L's  21x18  at  a  cost  of  §7,860,  besides 
other  structures  costing  §1,504.  The  remain- 
der was  expended  in  obtaining  water  supply,  furniture,  farm  stock,  etc. 
the  duties  of  former  overseers  of  the  poor.  The  house  was  opened  Oct 
persons  were  admitted. 

The  important  work  of  erecting  a  town  hall  was  started  in  187  i 

87 


THE   VILLAGE,    NORTH    OF  THE   RIVER. 


Since  1876  the  selectmen  have  performed 
I,  1877,  and  in  the  five  months  following  41 

This  building,  standing  on  the  east  side  of 


FRONT  STREET,    LOOKING   TOWARDS   BLAISDELL'S  CORNER. 

8S 


Market  square,  is  an  imposing  structure  of  brick  with  stone  trimmings   having  a  recessed  entrance,  at  each  end  of 

which  is  a  memorial  tablet  of  bronze,  set  in  relief  work  of  Ciothic  form,  and  bearing  the  Rebellion's  necrology  of 

Chicopee's  gallant  soldiery.     The  picturesque  feature  of  the  building  is  the  tower,  which  forms  a  land  mark  up  and 

down    the    river.       In    this 

tower    hangs    a    great    bell,  ~i»».  1 

used    on    public    occasions 

and  for  fire  alarm. 

Custom  still  prevails 
of  ringing  a  nine-o'clock 
bell,  which  is  undoubtedly  a 
survival  of  the  curfew.  The 
steps  leading  to  the  main 
entrance  are  imposing  and 
form  a  fitting  approach  to 
the  main  door.  The  build- 
ing is  used  for  city  offices 
and  the  police  department 
is  located  in  the  basement. 
The  hall,  handsomely  fres- 
coed and  having  stained 
glass  windows,  has  a  seat- 
ing capacity  of  900  persons. 
The  building  committee  was 
made  up  of  the  following 
gentlemen  :  James  T.  .\mes, 

E.  O.  Carter,  Erastus  Steb-  """  "°"^"'  ''""'°''^<'  street. 

bins,  Ezekiel  Blake,  Emerson  Gaylord.     The  total  cost,  including  land  and  furniture,  was  Sioi, 
depends  for  picturesque  effect  on  the  tower,  which  is  a  noticeable  feature  for  miles  around. 

89 


;6o.38.     The  building 


ALONG   THE  ICHICOPEE. 


The  Ladies'  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  was  instrumental  in  erecting  the  tablets  to  the  memory  of  the  soldiers,  as  this 
document  will  show  ; 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Ladies'  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  of  Chicopee,  held  Oct.  15,  1865,  it  was  voted  to  give  thirteen 
hundred  dollars  toward  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument  to  the  memory  of  those  soldiers  belonging  to  the  town 
who  have  fallen  in  defence  of  our  national  liberties.  Mrs.  James  T.  Ames,  Mrs.  Simon  G.  Southworth  and  Mrs.  George 
M.  Stearns  were  appointed  a  committee  to  see  that  the  money  was  appropriated  for  that  purpose.  At  a  meeting  of 
this  committee  the  following  gentlemen,  Mr.  James  T.  Ames,  Mr.  Cory  McFarland  and  Mr.  Emerson  Gaylord,  were 
invited  to  take  charge  of  the  money  and  adopt  such  measures  as  they  may  deem  expedient  to  carry  out  the  plan, 
hoping  it  may  be  dedicated  the  fourth  of  |uly,  1S66.  Ellen  H.  Ames,  \ 

Sarah  L.  Southworth,  >    Committee. 

Emily  C.  Stearns,  j 

The  money  was  used  for  the  memorial  tablets,  and  the  dedication  took  place  Dec.  21,  187  r,  under  the  charge 
of  the  G.  A.  R. 

Though  Chicopee  boasts  of  no  newspaper  at  present,  there  have  been  energetic  laborers  in  the  field  in  former 
years.  The  first  newspaper  published  within  the  limits  of  Chicopee  was  issued  in  January,  1840,  by  Thomas  D.  Blos- 
som, who  came  from  Hingham,  Mass.  He  was  assisted  by  Rev.  A.  .\.  Folsom.  The  paper  was  called  the  Cahotvil/e 
Chronicle  and  Chicopee  Falls  Advertiser.  Messrs.  John  L.  Hall  and  ( ).  IJutterfield  took  the  office  under  a  lease  from 
Mr.  Blossom  and  continued  in  business  but  a  few  months,  but  long  enough  to  change  the  name  of  the  paper  to  Me- 
chanics' Offering.  Mr.  Blossom  then  gathered  up  the  reins  of  government  again  and  sustained  it  under  the  new  name 
until  the  spring  of  1846,  when  it  went  into  a  rapid  decline  owing  to  a  withdrawal  of  patronage  consequent  upon  the 
publication  of  certain  offensive  articles,  among  which  was  tiie  "  Mysteries  of  Cabotville."  The  Mechanics'  Off^ering 
then  appeared  with  Harvey  E.  Bowles  as  publisher  and  James  M.  Cavanaugh  as  editor.  In  August  of  the  same  year 
Harvey  Russell,  Amos  W.  Stockwell,  and  Mr.  Cavanaugh  purchased  the  paper,  and  in  the  second  week  of  the  Septem- 
ber following  issued  the  initial  sheet  of  the  Cabotville  Mirror.  Stockwell  and  Cavanaugh,  the  editors,  made  it  a 
Democratic  organ.  Bad  luck  came  to  the  ])aper  Jan.  8,  1848,  when  the  establishment  was  destroyed  by  fire.  With 
some  assistance,  publication  was  resumed  the  first  of  the  March  following.  In  November,  1849,  the  subscription  list 
was  transferred  to  the  Springfield  Sentinel,  which  issued  it  under  the  head  of  Chicopee  yI/;/w/- until  Feb.  2,  1850. 

91 


The  Chicopee  Telegraph,  a  weekly  paper,  was  first  issued  on  Wednesday,  Feb.  ii,  1846,  by  J.  C.  Stover  &  Co. 
in  Cabotville.  It  was  devoted  to  agriculture.  It  ceased  May  25,  1853.  A  newspaper,  18x24  inches,  was  issued 
Saturday,  June  4,  1853,  called  the  Chicopee  Weekly  Jourttal.  This  had  a  medallion  of  the  village  in  the  head.  J.  R. 
Childs,  who  had  assumed  the  management  of  the  Telegraph  on  the  first  day  of  May  preceding  its  discontinuance,  was 
editor  and  publisher  of  the  new  paper.     It  contained  local,  but  not  general  news  and  selected  matter,  and  was  Whig 

in  its  sentiments.  The  second  volume  was  narrowed  one  column  per  page  and 
appeared  as  the  Weekly  Jaurnal,  dropping  Chicopee  from  its  title.  July  15,  1S54, 
David  B.  Potts  became  proprietor  and  James  C.  Pratt  editor.  William  G.  Brown 
followed  Mr.  Pratt  as  editor  .-Xi^ril  rg,  1S56,  and  then  Mr.  J.  C.  Havens,  who  became 
a  well-known  figure  in  the  life  of  the  place,  bought  the  paper  and  admitted  Mr  Pratt 
as  partner.  They  continued  the  publication  for  two  years,  when  George  V.  ^Vheelock 
was  admitted.  March  12,  1859,  Mr.  Brown  sold  his  interest  to  J.  C.  Havens. 
Havens  iS;  Wheelock  sustained  the  paper  until  Dec.  27,  1862,  when  it  was  discon- 
tinued with  No.  30,  Vol.  XVHI  ,  which  contained,  among  other  valedictory  words, 
these  : 

"  We  are  not  dead  yet,  it  is  true,  or  quite  reduced  to  the  starving  point,  and 

hut  fur  the    jjapermakers'   exorbitant   demands   we    should    continue  to   dispense 

'  blessings  '  to  this  community  every  week     and,  mark  it  \    but  for  the  scarcity  of 

advertisements  we  should  never  have  allowed  a  '  break '  in  the  chain  of  publication." 

Mr.  Wheelock  has  since  continued  in  the  job  jsrinting  business,  and  has  been 

for  years  chief  librarian  of  the  Chicopee  Library.      Mr.  Havens,  distinguished  as 

being  the   last   of  the   line  of  Chicopee   editors    up    to    the    present    date,  had   a 

J.  c.  H4VENS.  remarkable  facility  in  expressing  himself,  as  these  sentences,  which  are  taken  from 

one  of  his  editorials,  will  sufficiently  show  : 

"The  harvest  of  flowers,  what  shall  we  say  of  that?  It  seems  as  though  it  had  culminated  in  the  mass  of  fra- 
grant gems,  each  one  a  rival  of  the  other,  which,  formed  with  cunning  hands  into  a  magnificent  pyramid,  comes 
blushing  with  a  thousand  charms  from  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Dexter  Snow  to  our  table.  Every  petal  is  redolent  with 
perfume,  and  the  whole  mass  would  be  a  fitting  ornament  for  a  center  table  in  Heaven." 


92 


Mr.  Havens'  great  liking  for  flowers  made  him  specially  favored  in  the  distribution  of  these  favors.  Among 
other  positions  of  responsibility,  Mr.  Havens  acted  as  postmaster,  and  finally  moved  to  a  milder  climate,  hoping  to 
benefit  his  failing  health.     The  change  only  delayed  the  inevitable  result,  and  he  died  while  yet  in  his  prime. 

The  old  Philharmonic  Society  was  one  of  the  musical  powers  of  the  dav  in  war  times,  and  had  enjoyed  a  suc- 
cessful career  long  before  that  time.  "  We 
don't  hear  such  music  now,"  say  some  of  the 
older  inhabitants  The  members  sang  with 
spirit  and  enthusiasm,  particularly  when  their 
united  energies  took  up  the  old  war  and  cam- 
paign songs.  .At  first,  ladies  formed  part  of 
the  membership,  but  later  the  club  was  com- 
posed of  men,  and  these  are  their  names,  as 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  members  remembers 
them  :  l'".zra  Heath,  leader,  George  D.  Robin- 
son, Dexter  Snow,  Harrison  Seaman,  Melzer 
Mossman,  John  \Vhite,  William  and  Charles 
Blackmer,  \\'illiam  Heathcote,  James  Pease, 
Gannett. 

The  Chicopee  schools  ha^■e  always 
maintained  the  high  standard  which  their 
early  days  promised.  There  are  now  in  the 
complete  list  of  schools,  the  high  school, 
Center  grammar,  .School  street.  Spruce  street. 
Grape  street,  Church  street,  .Mvord  school, 
Sheridan  street,  Willimansett,  Chicopee  street,  Plainville,  Llough  district.  The  teachers  are  :  William  C.  Whiting, 
Emma  L.  Mitchell,  Mary  B.  Raynor,  Fannie  .A.  Ober,  .\deline  E.  Howard,  Mary  1).  Chapin,  Lucia  A.  Coleman,  Jennie 
E.  Livermore,  Rosa  \].  Burns,  Fannie  E.  Burgess,  Geneva  M.  Tracy,  Ida  J.  Rich,  Mary  G.  Walsh,  Nellie  S.  Harrison, 
Mary  E.  Buttrick   Harriet  C.  Uuttrick,  Susie  B.  Bartlett,  Emma  P..  Houston,  Alice  K.  Thomas,  Lucy  A.  James,  Georgie 


5KIP"    HOME. 


93 


F.  Drake,  Florence  M.  Crowther,  Carrie  L.  Warner,  Rosa  A.  Trumbull,  Emma  E.  Gorton,  Mamie  T.  Leary,  Jessie 
M.  Rycroft,  Florence  E.  Noyes,  Florence  M.  Clark,  Effie  H.  Southwick,  Sarah  F.  Connor,  Anna  E.  Barry,  Mary  E. 
Sullivan,  Ellen  E.  Dooley,  Mildred  M.  Kelley,  Margaret  A.  O'Brien,  Edna  S.  Herrick,  Bridget  E.  Hannifen,  Emma 
B.  Gilligan,  Annie  L.  Mc()ueen.    Special  teachers,  Michael  J.  Sullivan,  music  ;  Anna  P.  Brown,  writing  and  drawing. 

In  the  death  of  R.  Hamilton  Perkins,  the  schools  lost  a  devoted  friend  and  valuable  promoter.  Mr.  Perkins' 
attainments  are  too  familiar  to  need  recapitulation,  he  was  brilliant,  systematic  and  a  thorough-going  worker.  In  his 
last  report  he  says  :  "In  connection  with  the  opening  of  the  Alvord  school  it  is  fitting  to  speak  of  the  presentation  of 
a  handsome  flag  hy  Mrs.  .Alvord,  wife  of  the  late  Dr.  .Alvord,  for  whom  the  school  was  named. 

"The  presentation  took  place  on  the  21st  day  of  June  and  the  event  was  celebrated  with  most  appropriate  e.x- 
ercises.  The  superintendent  of  schools  iiresided,  James  H.  Loomis,  Esq.,  made  the  presentation  address  on  behalf 
of  Mrs.  .Ahord  and  Mayor  Mellin  in  an  appropriate  address  accepted  the  flag  for  the  school  and  city.  Interesting  re- 
marks were  made  by  ex-Mayor  Taylor  and  L.  M.  Pierce,  a  former  principal  of  the  Falls  high  school.  In  conclusion, 
gentlemen,  let  me  thank  you,  collectively  and  individually,  for  the  courtesies  e.xtended  me  during  the  year.  In  sea- 
sons of  sunshine  or  of  shadow  and  seasons  of  certainty  or  of  doubt  you  ha\e  always  treated  me,  in  your  deliberations, 
with  that  courtesy  which  is  ever  due  from  man  to  man,  and  for  which  I  thank  vou. 

"And  in  this  connection  I  cannot  forbear  to  add  a  word  of  tribute  to  James  H.  Loomis,  Esq.,  who  retires  from 
this  board  to-night  after  a  service  of  nearly  twelve  years,  during  the  most  of  which  time  he  has  served  as  chairman  ; 
— ever  interested,  faithful  and  energetic,  he  has  devoted  much  time  to  the  interest  of  the  schools  ;  the  citizens  of 
Chicopee  may  well  be  grateful  to  him  for  many  of  the  im])ortant  details  in  the  construction  of  the  high  and  .Alvord 
schools  for  which  he  planned  and  insisted." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Mr.  Loomis  was  chosen  to  fill  Sujierintendent  Perkins'  place  while  the  city  was 
without  a  superintendent  of  schools. 

The  total  number  in  attendance  in  the  day  schools  last  year  was  2,159  ■  of  these  1,0.89  "'ce  males  and  1,070 
females  During  the  year  the  population  decreased  to  a  small  e.xtent,  but  the  daily  attendance  was  increased  liy  31 
pupils.     In  the  evening  schools  there  were  in  both  divisions,  the  Center  and  the  Falls,  348  pupils. 

The  total  expenditures  of  the  schools  inclusive  of  repairs  on  buildings,  has  been  §30,582.42  ;  the  total  en- 
rollment of  pupils  in  day,  evening  and  draughting  schools  has  been  2,588,  making  an  expense  oi  $1 1.40  for  each 
pupil  enrolled,  or  ninety  cents   greater  than    for  last  year.     The  average    daily  attendance  in  all  the  schools  has  been 

94 


i.ySo  pupils,  and  on  this  basis  the  expense  for  each  pupil  has  been  S16.65,  or  an  increase  of  eighty-eight  cents  over 
last  year  for  each  pupil. 

There  were  graduated  from  the  high  school  last  June  fourteen  pupils.  The  class  poem  by  Miss  (Jertrude  De 
Witt  was  so  creditable  that  it  is  reproduced  here  : 

CLASS  POEM. 
Our  harbor  we're  leaving:  each  sail  we  unfurl:  Our  ways  may  all  differ  o'er  seas  still  untried: 

Bright  hopes  for  tile  future  within  us  abide,  In  the  sunlight  these  sails  on  the  billows  will  sport : 

That  escaping  the  reefs  where  the  white  billows  curl,  In  mists  o!  the  ocean  the  others  will  ride; 

Our  bark  o'er  life's  ocean  in  safety  may  glide.  The  voyage  howe'er  varied  at  last  leads  to  port. 

In  the  sunlight,  the  mists  and  the  storms  of  the  main, 

May  we  sail  all  securely,  outriding  each  gale: 
Completing  our  voyage,  on  our  records  no  stain, 

\\'e  shall  re.^ch  that  fair  Haven  where  peace  will  prevail. 

The  first  city  government  was  inaugurated  January  i,  1S90,  the  town  having  long  passed  the  limits  required  by 
law  when  it  is  entitled  to  the  rights  of  a  full  fledged  city.  The  popularity  and  acknowledged  worth  of  George  S.  Taylor 
were  shown  in  the  general  expression  of  a  desire  to  make  him  mayor,  and  the  election  was  an  enthusiastic  one. 

The  city  at  present  is  divided  into  seven  wards,  though  the  e.\tent  of  surrounding  country  opens  up  all  sorts  of 
possibilities.     Chicopee  has  room  enough  to  grow  in  and  will  doubtless  improve  her  chances. 

George  S.  Taylor,  Chicopee's  first  mayor,  well  deserved  the  distinction,  for  his  Hfe  has  been  spent  in  one 
incessant  effort  to  benefit  his  town.  Whatever  was  for  the  good  of  Chicopee,  that  cause  Mr.  Taylor  has  always  given 
himself  up  to,  and  when  the  ambitious  town  became  a  city,  his  was  the  first  hand  which  guided  its  affairs.  During 
his  administration  of  public  affairs  great  unity  between  both  boards  and  the  executive  prevailed,  and  affairs  moved 
along  with  great  smoothness. 

George  Sylvester  Taylor,  son  of  Sylvester  and  Sarah  Eaton  Taylor,  was  born  in  South  Hadley,  March  2,  1822. 
With  his  parents  he  came  to  Chicopee  Falls  when  only  six  years  of  age.  He  attended  the  Chicopee  and  Springfield 
schools  and  laid  the  foundation  for  his  successful  business  career.  He  entered  upon  business  life  with  Mr.  Shockford 
under  the  firm  name  of  Shockford  &  Taylor,  continuing  in  this  business  nineteen  years  and  then  formed  a  co- 
partnership with  Bildad  B.  Belcher  in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  at  the  "  Falls."  In  1864,  the  firm 
was  changed  into  a  corporation,  with  Mr.  Taylor  treasurer,  and  Mr.  Belcher  agent.    In  1868  the  latter  resigned  and,  at 

95 


DC 

o 

> 
< 

l- 


LiJ 

cc 
O 

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96 


that  time,  Mr.  Taylor  took  an  additional  office  as  agent  and  treasurer.  The  corporation  has  always  been  noted  for  its 
honorable  dealings  and  the  high  character  of  the  men  connected  with  it.  At  present  Mr.  Taylor  is  president  of  the 
Chicopee  Falls  Savings  Bank,  also  of  the  Chicopee  Falls  Building  Company,  whose  praiseworthy  purpose  is  "  to  aid  a 
good  class  of  citizens  to  procure  homes  by  small  payments  and  fair  interest."  This  company  is  under  the  auspices  of 
.\ndrew  Gale,  James  E.  Taylor,  Austin  C).  Grant  and  Joshua  Stevens,  who  are  its  directors,  with  George  S.  Taylor  as 
president  and  F.  N.  Withrell  clerk,  all  men  of  known  ability  and  wide  influence,  and  accustomed  to  succeed  in  their 
undertakings.  .At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Taylor  was  in  the  Legislature,  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  in  his 
busy  life  has  served  his  town  as  selectman,  assessor,  special  justice  of  police  court,  representative,  mayor,  and  has 
given  time  and  influence  to  the  establishment  of  a  board  of  trade,  is  president  of  it  and  the  V.  M.  C.  A.  at  the  "  Falls," 
has  acted  as  superintendent  of  the  First  Congregational  Sunday  School  for  twenty-five  years,  and  has  been  very  active 
in  church  as  well  as  secular  matters.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Belcher  Lodge,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  LInity  Chapter,  of 
Chicopee,  and  Springfield  Commandery,  in  short,  is  in  everything  which  helps  Chicopee.  Mr.  'I'aylor  married  Miss 
.Asenath  B.  Cobb,  of  Princeton,  November  25,  1845,  and  in  November,  1S95,  celebrated  his  golden  wedding  under 
the  most  delightful  conditions.  The  pleasant  home  was  thronged  with  people  who  came  to  offer  their  heartiest 
congratulations. 

Nearly  400  people  dropped  in  during  the  day  and  by  word  and  token  helped  to  make  the  day  one  of  joy. 
Men  were  there  who  had  known  Mr.  Taylor  when  a  boy,  and  women  who  had  attended  his  wedding.  Young  men, 
whose  earliest  recollections  gave  Mr.  Taylor  a  prominent  place  as  their  example,  and  whom  he  had  seen  grow  and 
mature  into  manhood,  were  present  and  joined  heartily  with  their  elders  in  the  congratulations.  People  attended  who 
had  a  shorter  acquaintance  with  the  couple,  but  had  learned  to  respect  and  love  them. 

It  was  shortly  after  i  o'clock  when  some  si.xty-three  employes  in  the  Belcher,  Taylor  concern,  marched  up  to 
the  Taylor  residence  and  were  admitted.  In  the  hand  of  one  was  a  gold-headed  cane,  their  token  of  love.  Louis 
Osborne  headed  the  party,  and  in  presenting  it  said  :  "  As  old  friends  and  shopmates,  we  have  come  to  celebrate  your 
golden  wedding.  We  congratulate  you  on  your  long,  happy,  prosperous  and  fruitful  married  life,  and  as  members  with 
you  of  one  common  fatherhood  and  one  common  brotherhood,  as  citizens  of  this  new-born  city  of  Chicopee,  as  old 
friends  and  old  neighbors  and  old  shopmates,  we  have  come  to  present  you  a  token  of  our  love  and  respect,  and  with 
this  token  of  our  love  we  ask  you  to  accept  our  very  best  wishes,  and  we  pray  that  the  same  kind  hand  that  has  led 
you  in  the  past  and  is  so  abundantly  blessing  you  in  the  present,  may  continue  to  lead  you."     Many  other  valuable 

97 


EX-GOVERNOR   GEORGE   D,   ROBINSON 


,2:ifts  were  received  and  numerous  telegrams  and  letters  from 
different  parts  of  the  country  came  replete  with  congratulatory 
words. 

Ex-(;overnor  George  Dexter  Robinson,  whose  influence 
has  been  a  power  outside  the  city  where  he  makes  his  home,  is 
a  member  of  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  state,  the  records 
showing  his  ancestors  prominent  in  the  history  of  Lexington, 
and  his  relatives  jiarticipated  in  the  Lexington  Common  fight, 
A]:>ril  19,  1775-  His  mother,  ^trs.  Mary  Davis-Robinson,  is  of 
the  L)avis  and  Hosmer  families  of  Concord  and  Acton,  many 
of  whose  members  fought  for  liberty  at  Concord,  (leorge  D. 
Robinson  is  a  native  of  Lexington,  was  born  there  January  20, 
1834.  The  Robinson  home  was  on  a  farm  somewhat  remote 
from  neighbors  and  the  two  brothers,  George  D.  and  Charles, 
Ir.,  attended  the  district  school.  .'\t  the  age  of  sixteen  George 
entered  the  Lexington  Academy,  and  after  one  year's  study  he 
commenced  a  course  at  the  Hopkins  Classical  School  at  Cam- 
bridge, the  design  of  his  father  being  to  give  him  a  thorough 
education  without  special  reference  to  a  collegiate  course. 
I'he  rapid  progress  of  the  young  man  induced  the  principal  to 
advise  his  father  to  send  him  to  Harvard  College,  and  in  July, 
1S5J,  he  passed  a  highly  creditable  examination,  entering 
without  conditions,  the  only  member  of  a  large  class  who 
passed  so  well.  Mr.  Robinson  also  took  high  rank  in  college, 
standing  first  in  a  class  of  ninety-two  members.  During  the 
winters  of  his  junior  and  senior  years  he  taught  school  in 
Lexington,  and  September  20,  1856,  assumed  the  principalship 
of  the  Chicopee  High  School,  a  circumstance  which  has  always 

98 


RESIDENCE  OF   EX-GOVERNOR   ROBINSON. 

99 


been  regarded  as  particularly  happy  by  his  pupils.  The  school  averaged  125  members,  and  Mr.  Robinson  resigned 
his  duties  after  a  most  successful  service  in  1865,  to  commence  the  study  of  law  in  the  Charlestown  office  of  his  brother, 
and  after  eleven  months'  study  was  admittetl  to  the  bar  at  Cambridge,  April  i,  1S66.  He  returned  to  Chicopee  and 
entered  upon  a  career  in  the  courts  which  has  made  his  name  widely  known  and  his  legal  abilities  respected. 

The  Republican  side  in  politics  has  always  had  Mr.  Robinson  for  a  stanch  supporter.  He  was  in  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  in  1874  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  serving  on  the  judiciary  committee. 
In  1S76  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  serving  as  chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  judiciary,  probate  and 
chancery  and  constitutional  amendments.  In  1876  he  was  elected  representative  to  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  of  the 
U.  S.  from  the  Kleventh  District  to  succeed  Hon.  Chester  W.  Chapin,  and  in  that  body  was  assigned  to  the  committee 
on  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  committee  of  expenditures  in  the  department  of  justice.  In  the 
fall  of  1878,  Mr.  Robinson  was  re-elected  to  Congress  and  in  1883  was  elected  governor  of  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Robinson  has  e\er  been  most  active  in  advancing  the  interests  of  his  town  and  city  and  receives  the 
greatest  honor,  love  and  respect  in  the  place  where  he  is  best  known.  He  is  a  Unitarian  and  has  ever  been  active 
and  thorough  in  promoting  the  interests  of  his  church. 

George  M.  Stearns,  Chicopee  has  been  proud  to  call  her  own,  and  so  share  in  a  large  measure  in  the  pride 
Western  Massachusetts  has  felt  in  her  justly  celebrated  lawyer,  strong  at  all  points,  who  has  been  a  notable  figure  in 
all  the  court  rooms  of  the  four  western  counties  for  many  years.  His  death  on  the  last  day  of  1894  cast  a  gloom 
wherever  his  presence  had  been  felt  and  a  deep  sadness  among  his  intimate  associates.  The  Stearns  family  had 
removed  to  Brookline,  hoping  to  find  conditions  more  conducive  to  good  health  and  rest.  Mr.  Stearns  succumbed  to 
a  severe  attack  of  congestion  of  the  lungs  and  the  end  came  unexpectedly  to  his  Chicopee  friends,  who  were  waiting 
for  good  news  from  him. 

Mr,  Stearns  was  born  at  Rowe  on  the  i8th  of  .\pril,  1831.  His  father  was  the  minister  of  the  Unitarian  parish 
of  that  town,  and  Cieorge  was  the  typical  minister's  son.  He  had  a  bright  mind  and  made  his  way  quickly  through 
the  schools  at  Rowe,  and  finished  his  education  at  the  Shelburne  Falls  .Academy.  He  taught  school  for  a  while  and 
then  came  to  Chicopee  about  1849  'o  enter  the  office  of  John  Wells,  afterward  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  to  study  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  .April,  1852,  and  immediately  began  practice  as  a  partner 
of  Judge  Wells.  This  partnership  continued  for  several  years,  until  the  judge  removed  his  office  to  Springfield.  Some 
years  later  Mr.  Stearns  himself  opened  an  office  in  Springfield  with  the  late  E.  D.  Beach,  who  was  his  partner  for 

100 


some  time,  as  have  also  been  since  Judge  Marcus  P.  Knowlton 
and  Charles  I,.  Long.  In  1878  Mr.  Stearns  removed  to  Chic- 
opee  again,  where  he  had  his  office  until  his  recent  removal 
to  Brookline. 

Of  his  home  life  in  Chicopee  it  is  only  necessary  to 
say  now  that  since  his  marriage  in  1855  to  Emily  C.  Good- 
now  it  has  been  almost  an  ideal  one.  Two  children  were 
born  to  ^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Stearns,  Mary  C,  who  married  Frank 
E.  Tuttle  and  died  some  years  ago,  and  Emily  S  ,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  twelve. 

Mr.  Stearns  had  always  been  a  public  man,  but  had 
held  but  few  public  offices,  refusing  over  and  over  again 
nominations  to  Congress,  which  were  almost  equivalent  to  an 
election,  and  several  times  declining  to  be  his  party's  candi- 
date for  governor.  He  was  always  a  Democrat,  and  was 
elected  by  that  party  to  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
1859,  and  was  a  member  of  the  committee  which  revised  the 
Public  Statutes  in  i860.  In  1871  he  was  in  the  Senate.  In 
1872  he  was  elected  district  attorney  for  the  Western  District, 
but  resigned  at  the  end  of  two  years.  The  same  year  he  was 
a  delegate  to  the  National  Democratic  Convention  at  Cincin- 
nati and  favored  the  nomination  of  Horace  Greeley,  and  has 
been  repeatedly  a  delegate  to  National  Conventions  since.  In 
1886  he  was  appointed  United  States  attorney  at  Boston,  but 
resigned  the  position  in  less  than  two  years.  He  was  a  can- 
didate for  lieutenant-governor  on  the  Democratic  ticket  with 
John  Quincy  Adams,  and  later,  when  the  1  )emocrats  nominated 
Charles  Sumner,  was  nominated  lieutenant-governor  with  him 


GEORGE  M.   STEARNS. 


also,  but  on  Sumner's  refusal  Mr.  Stearns  followed  his  example.  Mr.  Stearns'  counsel  in  political  matters  has  been 
frequently  sought  by  party  leaders  and  men  of  position  and  influence,  and  always  most  highly  valued.  It  is  well 
known  that  few  men  in  the  country  were  more  cordially  welcomed  at  the  White  House  than  he.  He  was  a  shrewd 
observer,  a  careful  student  and  an  accurate  judge  of  men  and  events.  He  had  few  axes  to  grind,  and  his  advice  on 
public  matters,  when  given,  was  given  with  the  public  good  as  its  object,  and  so  was  valuable  and  influential. 

His  standing  as  a  lawyer  is  well  established  and  acknowledged  in  this  community.  He  was  easily  at  the  head 
of  our  local  bar,  and  almost  equal  to  the  oldest  members  in  length  of  practice.  His  practice  was  most  extensive, 
covering  all  branches  of  the  law  and  taking  him  into  the  highest  courts  of  the  country. 

The  wit  of  George  M.  Stearns  was  well  known  and  clistincti\e,  like  his  methods,  it  was  all  his  own.  With  all 
his  shrewdness  he  was  great  enough  to  have  a  tender,  sympathetic  side,  and  this  was  as  pronounced  to  those  who  knew 
him  well  as  his  other  qualities.  He  was  truly  one  of  Chicopee's  great  men,  and  his  former  home  on  Springfield 
street  will  always  be  associated  with  pleasantest  memories  of  his  life  and  service. 

Ethan  Samuel  Chapin  was  born  in  Somers,  Conn.,  in  1814,  a  direct  descendant  of  Deacon  Samuel  Chapin, 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Springfield.  His  school  days  practically  ended  at  9  years  of  age.  Pearly  in  his  teens  he 
came  to  Cabotville  to  begin  the  battle  of  life  for  himself,  and  learned  the  habits  of  patience,  industry,  economy  and 
self-reliance,  which  made  him  a  strong  man. 

While  working  for  the  Ames  Manufacturing  Company  he  developed  a  wonderful  genius  for  machinery,  and 
made  many  inventions.  His  services  as  designer  and  executor  of  ornamentations  for  swords  and  scabbards  and  gun 
and  pistol  handles  were  highly  prized.  Two  books  on  philosophy  and  chemistry  fell  into  his  hands  at  this  time  and 
became  the  foundation  of  all  his  future  studies.  He  kept  them  near  him  while  at  his  work.  .At  less  than  19  years  of 
age  he  was  made  overseer,  and  when  he  left  was  considered  the  most  skillful  workman  in  the  establishment.  .A 
brother,  Marion  Chapin,  purchased  the  Cabot,  now  the  Kendall  House,  and  for  seven  years  E^than  was  his  assistant. 
In  1S43  they  moved  to  S|iringfield  ami  started  the  well-known  Massasoit  House,  famous  throughout  the  country. 
During  the  war  the  Chapin  brothers  were  loyal  citizens,  and  always  served  refreshments  and  a  royal  welcome  to 
regiments  passing  through  the  city.  Mr.  Chapin  was  connected  with  the  "  underground  railway,"  and  concealed  and 
cared  for  parties  of  slaves  on  their  way  to  Canada  before  the  war  broke  out.  He  contributed  liberally  to  the  City 
Library,  French  Protestant  Church,  School  for  Christian  Work  and  Springfield  Hospital,  besides  founding  a  home  in 
India  for  girls  and  widows  as  a  memorial  to  his  daughter  Alice.     With  J.  G.  Holland  and  G.  M.  Atwater  he  was  a 


founder  of  Memorial  Church,  and  for  20  years  a  pillar  of  it. 
He  was  an  earnest  Christian  and  a  great  lover  of  science,  pub- 
lishing several  valuable  works,  perhaps  the  most  prominent 
being  "Gravitation  the  Determining  Force."  He  was  a  true 
nobleman,  and  his  death  in  1889  was  a  public  sorrow. 

Hon.  .\lbert  Charles  Woodworth  was  born  in  Chicopee 
street,  and  when  two  years  old  went  with  his  parents  to  Ohio, 
then  the  Far  West,  by  way  of  the  Erie  canal.  They  were  pio- 
neers in  the  state,  and  his  father,  Charles  B.  Woodworth,  was  a 
"  '49er."  Fifteen  years  later  they  returned  to  Chicopee,  to 
take  charge  of  the  electroplating  at  the  .\mes  Manufacturing 
Company.  In  1S65  he  went  to  New  ^'ork,  and  was  connected 
with  the  Gorham  Silver  Company.  In  1S68  he  made  a  business 
trip  to  California  by  steamer,  as  the  railroad  was  not  then  com- 
pleted. He  went  to  F^urope  in  1874,  and  on  his  return  suc- 
ceeded his  father-in-law,  James  T.  Ames,  as  head  of  the  .-\mes 
Company.  Mr.  Woodworth  was  for  some  time  in  politics,  and 
received  the  nominations  for  lieutenant-governor  and  Con- 
gress, being  elected  to  the  Senate  in  1S82.  In  1S90  he  went 
to  Denver,  Col,  and  there  constructed  the  first  cotton  mill 
west  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

Emerson  Gaylord,  son  of  Josiah  Gaylord  and  I.ucinda 
.Smith  Gaylord,  was  born  in  South  Hadley,  Sept.  2,  1817.  His 
father  died  when  Emerson  Gaylord  was  quite  young — seven 
years  of  age— and  the  boy  was  early  left  to  depend  upon  his 
own  exertions.  .\t  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  was  appren- 
ticed to  Seth  Nyms,  of  Amherst,  to  learn  the  harnessmaking 
business.     Finding  there  were  many  other  duties  required  of 


A.    C.    WOODWORTH. 


103 


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104 


him  beside  his  legitimate  work,  young  Gaylord  went  back  to 
South  Hadley  and  began  the  shoemaker's  trade  with  (leorge 
Kilbourn.  He  afterward  purchased  "  his  time  "  of  Kilbourn 
for  §50.  The  determination  to  succeed  was  characteristic  of 
him  from  the  beginning,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  had 
saved  S40,  having  as  part  of  his  education  paid  Mr.  Ely  $1 
per  week  for  teaching  him  the  art  of  making  a  first-class 
gaiter  boot.  In  the  year  1S41  Mr.  Gaylord  came  to  Chicopee 
and  entered  the  employ  of  the  N.  P.  Ames  Company.  His 
first  work  was  making  harness  for  the  Texan  trade,  and  he 
rose  so  rapidly  that  in  1S43,  when  the  health  of  the  foreman 
failed,  Mr.  Ames  wished  him  to  take  charge  of  the  shop,  but 
instead  of  longer  continuing  as  an  employe,  he  contracted 
with  the  Ames  Company  for  furnishing  the  leather  goods. 
He  continued  in  this  business  until  January,  1856,  when  he 
purchased  that  part  of  the  business,  and  added  to  it  the 
manufacture  of  leather  hose  and  machine  belting.  In  1S56 
he  received  orders  from  the  War  Department  for  infantry 
accoutrements,  and  continued  filling  orders  for  the  same  until 
i86r.  Prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  he  furnished 
first-class  military  accoutrements  to  these  Southern  States — 
Maryland,  Virginia,  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Mississippi — never 
thinking  of  the  purpose  for  which  they  would  be  used.  (.)n 
the  day  when  Fort  Sumter  fell  Mr.  Gaylord  had  a  lot  of  goods 
for  the  South  on  hand,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day 
received  a  dispatch  from  Colonel  Thornton,  commanding  at 
Governor's  Island,  N.  Y.,  to  ship  to  the  government  all  goods 
on  hand  and  all  in  process  of  construction.      Soon  after,  a 


DEACON   J     B.    STRATTON,    WILLIMANSETT. 
(This  cut  arrived  too  late  for  insertion  in  the  proper  place. _) 


105 


messenger  arrived  with  the  same  request  from  Governor  Andrews  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Gaylord  decided  to  divide 
them  equally  between  government  and  state,  and  did  so.  Before  night  of  the  same  day  a  noted  speculator  arrived 
and  offered  Mr.  Gaylord  $5,000  more  than  he  would  otherwise  have.     The  shrewdness  of  the  manufacturer  took  it  in 

at  a  glance.  In  the  hands  of  this  man  they  would  go  south, 
and  Mr.  Gaylord,  with  true  patriotism,  refused  to  sell  goods 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Southern  States.  The  demand  for  this 
line  of  goods  from  the  government  now  became  large,  and  to 
fill  it  large  buildings  were  immediately  erected,  and  the  work- 
ing force  increased  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  men.  In  1S61 
Mr.  Gaylord  contracted  to  furnish  the  government  with  leather 
mail  bags  for  a  term  of  four  years.  In  April,  1863,  Mr.  Gay- 
lord organized  his  establishment  into  a  stock  company.  In 
1866  Mr.  Gaylord  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  in 
1S81  was  in  the  Senate  from  Hampden  county.  He  is  a 
staunch  Republican  and  has  served  his  party  faithfully.  His 
wife  was  Miss  Jane  Burnett,  of  South  Hadley,  whom  he  mar- 
ried in  1844.     They  have  one  son,  A.  F.  Gaylord. 

Dexter  Snow,   one    of   the    best   known  and   deservedly 

popular  men  of  Chicopee,  has,  ever  since  1855,  carried  on  a 

successful  florist's  business  on  Grape  street,  where  he  was  ably 

assisted  by  his  wife.     He  was  everybody's  friend,  respected 

and  loved  by  all,  devoted  to  his  home,  honest  and  kind  hearted. 

One  of  his  greatest  pleasures  was  the  distributing  of  flowers  from 

his  summer  garden  wherever  he  thought  they  might  do  good. 

His  sudden  death  last  June  (1895)  was  a  widely  felt  grief. 

His  first  success  in  the  horticultural  business  was  with  verbenas,  and  really  his  wife  was  the  first  to  grow  the 

verbena  well.    Mr.  Snow  continued  to  grow  and  improve  the  verbena  until  his  stock  was  sought  by  the  leading  florists 

of  that  day.     The  price  then  was  one  dollar  a  dozen  for  plants  in  two  and  a  half  inch  pots,  and  it  was  with  regret 

106 


DEXTER    SNOW. 


that  he  saw  it  drop  as  the  cultivation  became  more  general  No  florist  in  New  England  had  a  more  complete 
collection  of  ferns  than  Mr.  Snow ;  he  sought  not  only  our  most  rare  natives,  but  exotics  from  all  climes.  At  one 
time  he  did  quite  a  business  in  mailing  pressed  fronds  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Mr.  Snow  was  a  great  lover  of  music  and  sang  in  his  church  choir  upwards  of  twenty-five  years.     He  was  also 

a  Mason,  and  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  

the  Hampden  County  Horticultural  Society 
of  Springfield,  having  been  identified  with 
it  over  thirty  years,  and  was  a  director  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  Mr.  Snow  was  a  native 
of  North  Brookfield,  and  he  married  Miss 
Alvira  R.  Mansfield,  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  who,  with  two  daughters,  lives 
in  Chicopee. 

The  late  Jerome  Wells,  of  the  First 
National  Bank,  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits 
of  his  time,  and  had  a  powerful  influence  on 
the  life  of  Chicopee.  He  bore  the  financial 
storms  and  came  out  successful,  and  has 
always  been  regarded  as  a  sound  and  care- 
ful financier.  When  the  Savings  Bank  was 
organized  in  1854  he  was  made  its  president, 
and  remained  such  until  1874.  He  was  also 
a  director  and  president  of  the  old  Cabot  '^ 
Bank,  and  president  of  the  National  Bank 
on  its  organization  in  1865  ;  he  was  also 
interested  in  mercantile  pursuits.  Politically  he  was  a  Republican.  In  186S  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentati\es,  and  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  banks  and  banking.  Mrs.  Georgiana  L.,  wife  of  Captain  Fred  B. 
Doten,  is  his  only  daughter. 

107'; 


THE  DEXTER  SNOW  PLACE. 


CHICOPEE   RIVEl;,    LOOKING   FROM   FALLS  TO  CENTRE. 
io8 


While  one  of  the  younger  Hghts  of  a  city  which  has  sent  out  its  full  quota  of  celebrated  men,  and  has  been  a 
center  of  intellectual  and  mechanical  activity,  there  is  no  name  in  Chicopee  so  widely  known  as  that  of  Edward 
Bellamy,  whose  "  Looking  Backward  "  touched  a  more  responsive  chord  than  even  its  author  knew  when  he  first 
sketched  the  plot  and  worked  in  the  coloring  with  artistic  skill.  The  success  of  the  book  has  been  the  truest  tribute 
to  its  value.  It  was  the  fertile  seed  in  ground  well  prepared  for  its  speedv  germination.  Mr.  Bellamy  is  now  working 
up  a  novel  about  which  he  does  not  say  a  great  deal,  but 
the  public  is  anxiously  waiting  its  appearance.  At  home 
Mr.  Bellamy  is  surrounded  by  a  charming  family,  and 
his  house,  just  off  the  electric  car  route  in  Chicopee 
F"alls,  is  a  modest,  two-story  modern  structure,  shaded 
by  handsome  maple  trees.  Mr.  Bellamy's  first  literary 
work  was  in  the  form  of  short  stories,  a  number  of 
which  were  published  before  he  was  out  of  his  teens. 
Some  of  these  are  to  be  found  in  the  files  of  Scribner''s 
Monthly,  back  in  the  seventies,  when  it  was  edited  by 
Dr.  Holland.  He  spent  two  winters  in  New  York  doing 
outside  work  for  the  Evening  Post,  but  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  accepted  a  position  on  the  Springfield  Union. 
l^receding  "Looking  Backward"  by  two  or  three  years, 
he  published  a  successful  novel,  entitled  "  Miss  Luding- 
ton's  Sister,"  which  won  the  attention  and  high  praise 
of  such  a  critic  as  W.  I).  Howells.  His  publishers  had 
for  some  time  been  asking  him  for  a  new  book,  when  the 


■  Looking  Backward 


EDWARD    BELLAMY. 

'   manuscript  was  finished,  and  it  was 


at  once  put  on  the  market.     Its  sales  in  this  country  have  run  up  to  over  400,000,  and  abroad  about  half  a  million 
copies  have  been  sold  in  Germany  alone. 

The  discovery  of  Veranus  and  its  opening  for  residence  purposes  are  to  be  accredited  to  F.  E.  Tuttle  and  J. 
L.  Humphrey,  two  wide-awake  and  enterprising  citizens,  who  purchased  a  fifty-acre  farm  originally  owned  by  Veranus 
Chapin,  one  of  the  pioneer  Chicopee  farmers,  lying  between  Springfield  and  Hampden  streets.     For  the  past  few 


109 


RESIDENCE  OF   F    E.   TUTTLE. 
I  lO 


MEMBERS  OF  THE   FIRE   DEPARTMENT. 


years  they  have  been  assiduously  improving  it  by  grading,  filling  and  building  a\enues  and  dwellings  thereon,  until  it 
has  now  come  into  prominence  as  one  of  the  most  delightful  and  desirable  localities  for  suburban  residence  in 
Hampden  county.  Here,  among  other  natural  attractions,  is  afforded  one  of  the  finest  views  in  the  state  ;  while  in 
the  laying  out  of  avenues  and  building  plots,  though  certain  restrictions  are  adhered  to,  the  rigidity  of  straight  lines  is 
avoided,  so  far  as  they  may  conflict  with  the  prospect  and  the  desires  of  those  purchasing  homes.  Thus,  in  the  con- 
struction of  Stearns  terrace,  which  enters  the  grounds  near  their  northern  extremity,  on  Springfield  street,  and  on 

which  several  homes  are  already  built  and  occupied,  a  serpentine  route  is  pursued 
towards  the  southwest,  affording  a  number  of  fine  residence  sites  that  cannot  fail 
to  please  the  most  fastidious  home  seeker.  Ihe  avenue  finally  finds  its  way  to  the 
wildest  and  most  romantic  portions  of  the  plateau.  Everywhere  the  prospect  is 
varied  by  the  happy  mingling  of  numerous  elevations,  groves,  ravines  and  running 
streams. 

In  18.49  the  matter  of  lighting  the  town  came  under  careful  consideration. 
The  result  was  the  organization  of  a  gas  company  at  Chicopee  Centre,  in  which 
the  tnur  large  manufacturing  companies  united.  ^I'his  included  the  Ames,  Cabot, 
I'erkins  and  Dwight.  (ias  works  were  erected  in  1850,  with  a  capacity  sufficient 
to  supply  the  mills  and  meet  the  ordinary  wants  of  the  village,  and  included  a 
retort  house  for  15  retorts,  a  purifying  house,  and  a  gas-holder  60  feet  in  diameter 
and  20  feet  in  height.  The  "  main  "  was  laid  4,000  feet,  and  gas  was  introduced 
into  the  mills  early  in  May  of  the  following  year.  Since  that  time  the  company 
has  interested  itself  in  the  progress  of  electric  lighting,  and  is  now  well  equipped 
in  this  regard.  David  lioynton  held  the  office  of  superintendent  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  proving  himself  a  most  conscientious  and  efficient  man.  Last  year,  1894, 
Mr.  Boynton  resigned,  and  is  now  living  in  his  own  home  in  Florida.  C.  H.  Nutting,  the  present  superintendent,  is 
carrying  out  the  plans  of  the  company.  New  buildings  are  being  put  u])  and  every  arrangement  made  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  city  lighting. 

In  1845  Charles  \V.  McClallan  and  R.  E.  Bemis  constructed  the  first  works  for  supplying  water  through  pipes 
to  the  village  of  Chicopee,  then  Cabotx'ille.     For  this  purpose  water  was  taken  from  springs  and  wells  at  the  higher 


DAVID    BOYNTON. 


THE  OLD  AMES   RESIDENCE,   FRONT  STREET. 
113 


elevation  just  south  of  the  village.  The  works  answered  a  temporary  purpose,  and  in  1847,  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Bemis,  became  by  purchase  wholly  the  property  of  Mr.  McClallan.  In  1876  arrangements  were  made  for  a  more 
satisfactory  suiiply  from  spring-fed  brooks  beyond  the  east  of  Chicopee,  in  Springfield,  and  there  a  dam  was  erected. 
The  following  year  a  company  was  incorporated,  with  a  capital  limited  to  §75,000.  Mr.  McClallan's  interests  were 
purchased  by  this  company,  and  he  remained  a  stockholder.  The  incorporators  were  Charles  McClallan,  Emerson 
Gaylord,  George  .\.  Denison,  C.  H.  Hyde,  Krastus  Stebbins  and  William  C.  McClallan.  It  was  organized  as  the 
"Chicopee  Water  Conijiany,"  .\pril  18,  1877,  with  $50,000  capital.  Since  that  time  the  mains  have  been  extended, 
making  the  general  service  very  satisfactory.  "Cooley's  brook"  forms  the  main  supply.  "Bemis  brook"  supplies 
the  vicinity  known  locally  as  the  "Junction." 

Maple  Grove  Cemetery,  or  "  Cabotville  Burial  CJround,"  as  it  used  to  be  known,  was  a  small  tract  of  land 
lying  between  Elm  street  and  the  brow  of  the  hill,  containing  about  one  and  one-half  acres,  and  was  deeded  by  the 
Springfield  Canal  Company  in  1839  to  James  K.  Fletcher,  Benning  Leavitt  and  Austin  Chapin  2d,  in  trust,  for  the 
sum  of  ?45o.  .\n  additional  half  acre  was  deeded  to  them  and  their  successors  for  S225.  The  lot  ran  between  the 
land  of  .\athan  Parks  and  Joseph  Chapin,  and  a  narrow  strip  back  of  the  old  high  school  was  later  included.  The 
upper  part  was  purchased  later  from  .\ma/.iah  Bullens.  The  oldest  deeds  were  signed  by  Jas.  K.  Mills  and  approved 
by  P'.dmund  Dwight. 

In  1878  an  act  was  passed  to  incorporate  the  "Proprietors  of  Maple  Grove  Cemetery"  as  follows:  Silas 
Mosman,  John  B.  Wood,  R.  E.  Robertson,  L.  H.  Brigham,  James  T.  Ames,  Geo.  M.  Stearns,  Emerson  Gaylord, 
Amaziah  Bullens,  J.  B.  Fuller,  and  I..  A.  Jacobs,  and  the  trustees,  Silas  Mosman,  John  B.Wood  and  R.  E.  Robertson, 
conveyed  to  said  corporation  all  the  real  estate  and  rights  of  property  which  they  held  as  successors  to  Messrs. 
Fletcher,  Leavitt  and  Chapin. 

Section  three  of  this  act  states  that  the  corporation  may  receive  and  hold  any  gifts,  grants,  donations  or  be(|uests 
for  the  benefit  of  the  cemeterv,  and  the  years  since  ha\e  brought  so  many  changes  by  deaths  and  removal  that  at 
present  such  benefactions  are  sadlv  needed  to  preserve  this  lovely  spot. 

The  oldest  cemetery  is  in  Chicopee  street,  south  of  the  old  church,  and  here  are  some  unique  devices  on  the 
memorial  tablets.  The  Springfield  Canal  Company  gave  twenty  acres  to  the  Catholics,  which  is  located  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  city.  This  was  opened  in  1836.  The  new  cemetery,  Fairview,  is  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city, 
near  the  Springfield  line.     It  was  purchased  in  four  parcels  from  R.  E.  Bemis,  estate  of  Ruel  \'an  Horn,  (ieorge  W. 

114 


l^m- 


^.    W^'^ 


h'^if 


.. ^...  »-,».,>  .i<,l-y..-j^>»^t<.-„    ■ 


.vv,m»-;..^j--^-  -■^■. 


MAPLE  GROVE  CEMETERY. 

11=; 


Paine  and  Michael  Conway.  The  first  interment  was  in  the  spring  of  1S70,  being  the  burial  of  !\[rs.  Lydia  A.  Hyde, 
wife  of  Chauncey  A.  Hyde. 

At  Chicopee  Kails  there  is  a  burial  ground  extending  from  East  street  to  Springfield  road.  It  is  less  than  three 
acres.  It  originated  in  a  lease  of  one  acre  made  by  Benjamin  Belcher  to  the  Chicopee  Manufacturing  Company  for 
999  years,  to  be  used  by  School  District  16  for  burial  purposes.  The  contract  required  that  a  fence  be  built  and 
maintained.     .\n  addition  made  later  carried  the  ground  out  to  East  street. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  Chicopee  began  its  life  as  the  "  Cabot  Bank,"  which  was  chartered  Jan.  24,  1845, 
with  a  capital  of  §150,000.     John  Chase  was  the  first  president,  and  F.  B.  Doten  is  now  the  cashier. 

The  Chicopee  Savings  Bank  was  organized  in  1854.  Jerome  ^Vells  was  the  first  president,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Ceorge  D.  Robinson. 

The  Chicopee  Falls  Savings  liank  was  chartered  March  20,  1S75,  with  forty-one  incorporators.  H.  J.  Boyd  is 
the  treasurer. 

The  first  bridge  across  the  Chicopee  river  at  Chicopee  was  built  in  1778,  and  crossed  near  the  present  one. 
The  e.xpense  of  this  in  part  was  defrayed  by  a  lottery  sanctioned  by  law.  The  old  toll  bridge  at  Chicopee  Junction 
was  erected  in  1848-49  by  the  Chicopee  and  West  Springfield  Bridge  Co.,  but  long  ago  was  made  a  free  bridge. 
The  length  between  the  abutments  is  1,237  feet.  The  piers  of  sandstone  are  six  in  number.  The  present  handsome 
bridge  at  Chicopee  Falls  was  built  in  1895.     It  is  of  iron,  strongly  built,  on  the  site  of  the  old  covered  bridge. 

The  veterans  of  the  rebellion,  and  Chicopee  sent  out  a  goodly  company  of  soldiers,  have  formed  themselves 
into  the  Otis  Chapman  Post  No.  103,  \V.  P.  Warner,  Commander. 

The  railroad  connections  consist  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  line,  which  enters  the  city  at  the  Junction,  with  a 
branch  road  up  to  the  Falls,  which  follows  the  course  of  the  picturescpie  Chicopee  river.  The  then  C.  R.  R.  R. 
opened  the  main  line  in  1845  ^^'-^  '^^  branch  roail  in  1846.  The  former  passes  just  west  of  Chicopee  Centre,  cross- 
ing the  Chicopee  river  near  the  mouth,  and  crossing  the  Connecticut  river  at  Willimansett. 

The  Public  Library  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  old  Cabot  Institute,  a  literary  society  formed  and  organized  in  1846. 
During  the  first  seven  years  of  its  existence  it  acc|uired  900  volumes.  The  first  books,  651  in  number,  were  purchased 
in  1847,  with  funds  subscribed  by  corporations  and  individuals.  .\t  a  meeting  held  in  Cabot  Hall,  April  4,  1853,  it 
was  voted  to  accept  the  proposition  made  by  the  society  to  donate  to  the  citizens  of  the  town  these  books,  provided 
the  latter  would  appropriate  Si 00  each  year  for  ten  years.     The  supervision  of  the  library  was  vested  in  a  committee 

116 


AGENT   CUMNOCK'S   RESIDENCE  AND  OTHER  VIEWS   IN   CHICOPEE   CENTRE. 

117 


annuall}'  chosen  by  the  selectmen.  On  the  completion  of  the  Town  Hall  in  1871  the  books  were  transferred  to  the 
room  in  that  building  set  apart  for  library  purposes,  and  the  brick  house  near  the  City  Hall  is  now  used,  pending  the 
building  of  a  new  library  proper,     (ieorge  V.  Wheelock  is  librarian. 

The  Father  Mathew  'I'otal  Abstinence  and  Mutual  Benevolent  Society  has  an  honorable  history,  the  organiza- 
tion dating  from  Sept.  29,  1869.  The  meetings  are  now  held  every  Sunday 
afternoon  in  Father  Mathew  Hall,  the  use  of  which  is  given  by  the  Chicopee 
Manufacturing  Company.  In  connection  therewith  are  flourishing  dramatic  and 
literary  societies  and  a  lyceum.  The  one  hundred  members  are  earnest  and 
devoted.  The  charter  members  were  :  Daniel  Dunn,  Edward  O'Keefe,  William 
O'Neil,  Jerry  Mahanna,  Thomas  Carmody,  Patrick  M.  Shea.  Of  these,  Ilaniel 
Dunn  is  the  only  one  still  retaining  his  connection  with  the  society.  The  others 
have  fallen  out  through  removal  and  change  of  location.  Mr.  Dunn  is  putting 
the  same  heartiness  into  this  which  characterizes  his  attention  to  other  interests, 
having  proved  himself  one  of  Chicopee's  most  devoted  citizens.  E.x-Alderman 
Henry  F.  Moriarty  was  the  first  agitator  and  enthusiastic  promoter  of  the  Father 
Mathew  idea  in  Chicopee. 

The  Chicopefe  Falls  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  organized  as 
a  branch  of  the  Chicopee  Centre  Association  in  October,  1S90,  and  continued  as 
such  until  June  8,  1892,  when  by  vote  of  the  lioard  of  Directors  it  became  an 
independent  organization.  Rooms  were  opened  March  21,  1891.  Mr.  M.  I,. 
Dinsmore  was  its  first  general  secretary,  but  remained  only  until  June  15,  1891. 
September  i,  1891,  E.  .A.  King  accepted  the  call  as  general  secretary  and  remaineil 
until  June  i,  1892.  The  association  was  without  a  general  secretary  until  the 
foUowmg  November,  when  J.  S.  Raymond,  of  Yarmouth,  N.  S,  came  to  fill  the 
position,  but  he  remained  only  three  and  a  half  months.  .-Xpril  i,  1893,  the  pres- 
ent general  secretary,  W.  C.  Rollins,  accepted  the  call  of  the  Board  of  Directors, 
not  attempted  were  taken  up,  and,  while  it  has  been  hindered  by  not  having  a  well  appointed  building  of  its  own,  it 
has  been  enabled  to  do  much  good  work.     The  membership  has  steadily  increased  until  at  present  it  has  a  hundred 

118 


SECRETARY    ROLLINS,    r     M     C.    A 

Lines  of  work  which  before  it  had 


MEMBERS   OF   THE    BOYS'   CLUB. 


119 


BOYS'  CLUB   IN   CAMP. 


and  thirty-one  seniors  and  twenty-three  juniors.  I'he  Ladies'  Auxiliary  has  done  very  elificient  work  in  assisting  the 
association.  The  present  membership  of  the  Auxiliary  is  fifty.  'I'he  following  are  the  officers  and  directors  of  the 
association  ;  Geo.  .S.  Taylor,  president  :  R.  R.  I'leeder,  vice-president  ;  M.  L.  Dinsmore,  recording  secretary;  l'"rank 
O.  Cook,  treasurer  ;  C.  J.  Seaver,  auditor  ;  Dr.  L.  i\I.  f]erry,  f..  N.  f.yon,  Arthur  H.  Fay,  I).  S.  Warner,  D.  P.  liallard  ; 
W.  C.  Rollins,  general  secretary. 

The  Parish  House  of  Clrace  Church  was  ojiened  in  the  early  part  of  1S93.  The  purpose  of  such  a  house  is  to 
provide  a  jilace  where  the  \arious  acti\ities  of  the  parish  may  be  properly  carried  on,  and  especially  to  provide  a 
place  where  the  men  and  boys  could  pass  the  day  and  evening  free  from  the  often  harmful  influences  of  the  streets. 
This  last  phase  of  the  work  has  been  very  successful,  and  more  than  one  hundred  men  and  boys  are  members  of  the 
clubs  connected  with  the  house.  Pool  tables  are  provided  for  the  older  boys  and  men,  and  the  latter  are  allowed  the 
further  i)rivilege  of  a  smoking-room  in  connection  with  their  club.  Various  other  games  and  abundant  reading 
material  is  furnished  for  all  members,  young  and  old,  also  baths  and  a  well  equipped  gymnasium,  which  is  constantly 
being  used,  especially  by  the  boys.  Outside  sports  in  their  season,  .such  as  canoeing,  swimming,  skating,  toboganning, 
football,  baseball,  etc.,  receive  their  full  share  of  attention  from  the  boys.  An  athletic  field  has  been  in  use  for  two 
years,  and  a  fleet  of  four  canoes  (which  is  expected  to  be  enlarged  next  summer)  has  given  pleasure  to  those  who 
could  be  trusted  on  the  water.  Last  summer  a  camp  was  inaugurated  for  boys  over  twelve  years  of  age,  and  nine 
boys,  under  the  care  of  the  rector,  paddled  in  the  canoes  from  Chicopee  to  Shepherd's  Island,  opposite  Northampton, 
a  distance  of  fifteen  miles,  and  spent  two  weeks  under  canvas,  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  swimming,  fishing,  bull-frogging, 
'ogging  and  canoeing,  free  from  the  restraints  of  city  life.  At  the  end  of  the  stay  the  party  returned  as  they  had  gone. 
Other  boys  went  to  camp  for  short  stays,  the  largest  number  ])resent  at  one  time  being  fifteen.  The  boys  were  mostly 
good  swimmers  and  had  become  quite  expert  in  the  handling  of  the  paddle,  so  that  they  could  be  well  trusted,  and 
all  returned  without  an  accident  of  any  kind.  The  Parish  House  is  opened  every  day  and  night,  with  the  exception 
of  during  the  time  of  services  on  Sunday. 

In  December,  1895,  the  Republicans  were  successful  in  electing  their  candidate,  Mr.  Orant,  for  the  mayoralty 
of  Chicopee.  The  tax  rate  of  the  city  is  not  hea\y,  being  ;^i3.So,  the  population  is  16,500,  and  altogether  Chicopee 
looks  forward  to  a  period  of  unexampled  prosperity. 


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WORKS  OF  THE  OVERMAN   WHEEL  CO. 


MANUFACTURES  AND  ARTS. 


OVERMAN  WHEEL  COMPANY. 


The  Overman  manufactory  is  one  of  the  most  imposing  in  Cliicopee,  and  fully  illustrates  the  energy  and  push  whicli 
have  characterized  its  development.  Albert  H.  Overman,  president  of  the  companv,  has  brought  to  bear  on  its  interests 
a  clear  intelligence,  and  has  studied  the  making  of  bicycles  so  thoroughly  that  the  manufacture,  under  his  careful  man- 
agement, is  fast  becoming  a  science.  Very  properly  their  wheel  is  named  the  •'  Victor.-'  the  wheel  itself  proving  that 
there  is  .something  in  a  name.  For  fourteen  years  the  Overman  Wlieel  Company  has  been  manufacturing  bicycles, 
starting  in  a  small  way.  in  a  little  shop,  wliich  has  been  growing  and  extending,  until  to-dav  their  works  are  said  to  be 
the  largest  and  mo.st  complete  in  the  world.  They  have  not  been  content  with  making  wheels;  for  fourteen  years  they 
have  been  striving  to  make  the  best,  and  to  produce  from  day  to  day  one  better  in  every  respect  than  those  previously 
made.  For  this  purpose  the  establishment  has  invented  and  devised  nearly  all  of  the  machinery  used  by  them.  The  great 
aim  of  the  bicycle  manufacturer  has  of  late  been  to  secure  light  draft  machines.  Light  draft  and  light  wei^'-ht  are  not 
quite  synonymous  terms  when  applied  to  bicycles.  Different  men  should  have  different  machines,  and  32.5  pounds  avoir- 
dupois should  not  attempt  to  ride  the  wlieel  of  the  man  weighing  U.J  pounds.  The  means  should  be  a  con.lition  to  the 
end.  In  speaking  of  the  1896  model  the  other  day,  Mr.  Overman  said  :  '■  We  build  the  Victor  this  year  with  three  different 
heights  of  frames,  and  in  that  variety  a  man  is  sure  to  find  one  suited  to  his  requirements.  So  our  1896  models  are  practi- 
cally all  special,  and,  in  reality,  a  man  selecting  a  Victor  has  his  wheel  made  to  order.  We  claim  that  it  costs  more  to 
build  a  Victor  bicycle  than  any  other  bicycle  on  earth,  nnd  this  has  never  been  disputed  by  any  one  who  could  be  consid- 
ered an  authority  in  the  matter. 

"Instead  of  hiring  men  to  ride  our  bicycles,  we  put  that  money  into  the  construction  of  the  wheels  themselves  and 
make  them  good  enough  for  the  people  to  pay  our  price  to  ride  them.  Once  convinced  that  the  manufacturers  of  the 
Victor  bicycle  put  into  the  material  and  construction  of  the  wheel  money  which  other  manufacturers  spend  in  cheap 
advertising  by  hiring  racing  men  to  ride  their  wheels,  the  discriminating  purchaser  wishing  a  first-class  wheel  will  buy 
the  Victor,  just  as  the  discriminating  buyer  of  a  carriage  asks  for  a  Brewster.  Other  vehicles  have  four  wheels  a  top 
and  look  very  much  like  a  Brewster,  but  compare  them  a  year  after  each  has  been  subjected  to  the  same  usage  and  you 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  picking  out  the  superior  carriage.  The  faith  which  people  have  in  an  article  with  a  reputation 
tor  being  first-class  is  shown  by  the  comparatively  high  prices  brought  by  second-hand  articles  of  standard  make. 

'■  Our  factory  is  the  only  bicycle  plant  in  tlie  world  where  a  complete  bicycle  is  made  from  handle  bars  to  tire.  The 
man  does  not  live  who  can  come  to  us  and  say  that  he  made  apiece  of  the  Victor  bicycle.  We  do  not  incorporate  into 
■ Ijicycles  tires  or  saddles  or  otiier  j.arts  made  by  other  manufacturers  and  say  to  a  man  who  buys  a  Victor,  '  We  believe 

123 


our 


A.    H.    OVERMAN. 


tliese  K'ootls  to  be  first-class,"  but  we  manufacture  everything 
cm  our  own  premises,  and  can  guarantee  a  Victor  thrinigliout , 
because  we  know  what  is  in  it. 

'•  We  liave  recently  invented  an  instrument,  which  we  call 
the  '  dynamometei','  which  enables  us  to  determine  with  mathe- 
matical accuracy  tlie  ])ower  required  to  drive  a  bicycle.  In  this 
way  the  question  as  to  whether  a  seven-tooth  sjirocket  wheel 
requires  less  power  to  drive  the  machine  than  an  eight-tooth 
sprocket  wheel  ceases  to  be  a  question  of  logic  and  becomes  one 
of  pure  niatlieniatics,  and  on  all  these  mooted  points  we  have 
records  carefully  figured  out  and  are  able  to  say,  •  We  know.' 

••  We  keej)  men  in  our  emjiloy  who  ever}'  day,  e.\cei)t  Sun- 
day, do  nothing  but  ride  our  wheels,  for  testing  different  devices 
and  new  parts.  For  instance,  if  the  wheel  of  our  experimenters 
runs  out  of  oil,  the  man  reports  here  in  minutest  detail  how 
m;iny  feet  from  the  factor}'  the  cycle  gave  out,  how  long  since 
it  liad  been  oiled,  etc.  So  we  are  pushing  fui'ther  and  further 
into  the  unexplored  regions,  and  gradually  Ijringing  the  debated 
([uestions  of  cycle  construction  to  a  scientific  solution."  So  the 
development  of  this  interest  goes  on  until  the  newest  model  will 
enable  its  rider  to  speed  along  with  the  wings  of  the  wind. 

THE  JIOSMAX  FOUNDRY. 

One  of  the  particularlj'  interesting  places  in  Chicopee  is  the 
Mosman  foundry.  Here  Mr.  Melzar  H.  Mosman,  a  genius  in  his 
own  right  and  the  inheritor  of  artistic  understanding  and  ability, 
creates  and  sends  out  modelings  of  historic  and  classical  subjects 
with  such  success  that,  though  a  young  man,  he  has  gained  a 
reputation  seldom  achieved  by  a  man  on  the  sunny  side  of  fifty 
years.  The  work  done  by  Mr.  Mosman  has  been  largely  in  pro- 
.  ducing  figures  of  heroic  size.  One  of  the  later  has  been  the 
reproduction  in  bronze  of  the  plaster  model  by  E.  S.  Woods,  of 
Hartford,    showing    the    Re\  iiIution:iiy    hern.    Colonel    Thomas 


124 


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Knowltuii.  Tliough  busy,  Mr.  Mosinau  courteously  put  aside  liis  work  for  a  time  ami  talkeil  with  the  visiting  leimrter. 
••  For  the  past  few  years,"  said  Mr.  Mosman,  "  I  have  made  a  specialty  of  bronze  reproduction  in  preference  to  my  .sculp- 
ture work.  You  know  there  are  a  great  many  sculptors  in  this  countrj'  to-day,  but  very  few  good  founders.  I  have  been 
able  to  select  the  best  work  because  I  am  well  known  among  the  sculptors  and  I  have  been  fortunate  in  pleasing  them. 
Here  is  my  last  piece  of  work,  which  only  reached  the  shop  ten  days  ago  from  the  studio  of  W.  O.  Patridge,  the  sculptor, 
who  modeled  it  in  Milton.  This  statue  is  to  be  erected  by  the  Union  League  Club,  of  Bi-ookh  n,  and,  as  you  see,  it  is  an 
equestrian  figure  of  Genei-al  Grant.  It  is  to  be  dedicated  on  Grant's  birthday,  April  27,  189(3,  and  we  shall  need  all  the 
intervening  time  to  get  the  bronze  work  fini.shed.  The  statue  is  to  be  twice  life  size,  the  height  of  the  whole  figure  being 
16  feet  and  the  length  of  the  horse's  body  10  feet  4  inches.'" 

Mr.  Mosman's  studio  will  show  some  of  the  work  of  the  past  twenty-live  years.  Here  are  the  designs  showing  him  a 
sculptor  of  high  ability.  Everyone  in  the  vicinity,  and  wider  than  that,  has  heard  of  Silas  Mosman,  the  sculptor,  who 
made  the  Ames  Company  famous  throughout  the  world,  and  his  son  is  a  worthy  representative  of  the  present  generation. 
He  was  born  and  educated  in  Chicopee,  and  as  there  were  not  a  dozen  persons  in  New  England  at  that  time  working  in 
sculpture  and  no  teachers,  all  his  instruction  was  received  from  his  father.  Mr.  Mosman  went  abroad  in  1807  to  study, 
and  again  in  1874.  when  he  remained  in  Rome  for  a  year  for  the  purpose  of  modeling  tlie  statues  for  the  .soldiers'  and 
sailors'  monument  in  Seaside  Park,  Bridgeport,  Connecticut.  This  was  wrought  in  1870,  while  Mr.  Mosman  was  with  the 
Ames  Company,  and  cost  830,000.  There  are  three  bronze  figures  modeled  by  Mr,  Mosman  and  cast  at  the  Ames  Works, 
while  in  the  arch  of  the  statue  is  a  figure  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  which  was  modeled  and  cut  in  marljle  in  Piome  by 
Mr.  Mosman  and  exhibited  at  the  Philadelphia  Centennial  ?2xposition. 

Among  monuments  made  by  Mr.  Mosman  are  the  soldiers'  monuments  at  Bridgeporl,  Conn.,  Middletown  and 
Skaneateles,  N.  Y.  He  made  the  handsome  firemen's  monument  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  the  Tenth  Massachusetts  Regi- 
ment monument  at  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  and  soldiers'  monuments  at  Westfield.  Gloucester,  Kingston,  Danielsonville,  Conn., 
Delaware,  O.,  and  the  one  on  Court  Square,  in  Springfield. 

At  the  right  of  the  door  on  an  easel  is  a  mold  of  the  bronze  has  relief  of  Rev.  Burton  W.  Lockhart.  which  has  been 
placed  in  the  church  at  Chicopee  where  he  was  settled  from  1888  to  1893.  Opposite  the  minister  on  another  easel  is  a  cast 
of  J.  B.  Lippincotfs  head,  the  bronze  of  which  lielongs  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Goodwin  of  Hartford  ;  near  by  is  a  bust  of 
Graham,  the  inventor  of  shorthand.  Above  a  cabinet  of  odds  and  ends  stands  a  statuette  of  the  Minute  JIan,  done  by 
Daniel  French  ;  it  is  similar  to  his  famous  Concord  Minute  Man,  but  is  much  better  done,  Mr.  Mosman  said.  This 
statuette  was  cast  in  bronze  at  Chicopee  and  presented  by  the  town  of  Concord  to  the  United  States  gunboat  Concord  in 
1893.  Another  statuette  is  of  Garfield,  done  by  Rebisso,  the  famous  Italian  sculptor,  who  is  now  teaching  in  the  Art 
School  and  Museum  of  Cincinnati. 

Mr.  Mosman  regards  the  celebrated  Grant  monument  which  is  now  i>n  the  Lake  Shore  drive  in  Chicago  as  one  of  his 
best  pieces  of  work  ;  this  was  also  molded  by  Rebisso  and  cast  at  Chicopee.     No  small  jjart  of  Mr.  Mosman's  business  is 

126 


Harrison  ..-om.nittee  disa-^reed  and  M.-    A  osln  ,        ^      '  "°""'^^"t  to  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  but  the 

contract.     The  artistic  Xeo         iiSrH27JT.T^V°  '''  ''  "^  '"  Cincinnati  according  to  the  original 

.studio  as  Its  birthplace  :::!:'^ ue^^^:nL:'i^^::^t'''  °"''  ^^^*'- "  ""-^  '■^'^■■^^^"*^^'  -=^-^-  '•'^'-  *'-  ^^-™- 

THE  BELCHER  &  TAYLOR  AGRICULTURAL  TOOL  COMPANY 

3,  1863.     At  that  time  Mr.  Belcher  h^d    n  his  emnW  ..f  ^     t^  T"^'  '"'°  *'^'  ''"'"'''''  "''"^'^  ^'•'^•'^  ''''■^^^  March 

Company  in  Concord    N    H     wh  ch  n  fdl  H      t  /.S'^" '«'"'',  ''""     ^'"'  '^^'"P^"^  ^"  1^68  bought  out  the  Robinson 

Conical  Plow  ToCm  at  New  H  u^     I      sS ^T'      w'  t'"^  '  I'"  ""  ''^""^'"-  ^'°"  ^"'"P^^y  ^^  Greenfield,  then  the 
the  inventer,  E.  W   B ullard      It  b  ■  u"ht  o f  H  f       4;'     """"'  ''^''''^^"  ^"^^"'^^'^-  '"'  °^°'**  "^  "le  United  States,  of 

their  patents.     In  1886  thev  bouo-ht  of  Mr  T  aH^w  n        ■   i  !  ^"-"""aui,  as  «ell  as  Mi.  Aye,  to  manufacture  rakes  under 
proved  and  is  now  niadelder  tt  nan  e  o  'thp  V     ,        p'f      °  "^^""f^^^t^''*^  ^he  Ladow  Disc  Harrow,  which  was  im- 

soid  large  numbers  f::^^!^^::'^^':::^:;^^^:^  ''-  f'^^^^^  -'' '-' 

ness  of  B.  &  J.  W  Belcher  and  snnn  nff.-  fi      i      ■  .   r  ,  ot  JNevv  \oik.     In  l.s.sg  this  company  bought  out  the  busi- 

of  the  Baldwin  Cutter  whic     had  mevious^^^^^^  ^^       i^'  '^'""'"-^'  -^^'  '"  IS"*  ^^  bo^g'-t  out  the  business 

factures,  or  has  patterns  ft    h     n  a    ifacrr  J  0"^^  r^"'  ""'  ""T''  '^  ''"•■'""*  *  ^"^     ^'"^  ^'^^P^^  — 
styles  Of  feed  cutters,  and  probably  .::=deld-i:-rf  c^linrl^fSh:^  ^^ac^  ■  fthK:  ^S:  0:^ 


THE   BELCHER  &  TAYLOR  AGRICULTURAL  TOOL  CO.'S  WORKS 

128 


perhaiis,  in  tlie  u-orM.  Tliey  manufacture  all  kimls  of  tools  save  mowers  and  reapers,  and  the  reputation  of  the  tools 
manufactured  by  the  Belcher  &  Taylor  Agricultural  Tool  Company  stands  high,  not  only  in  tlie  United  States,  but  tlirough- 
out  the  civilized  world  where  good  tools  are  sold  ami  used. 

TAYLOR,  BRAMLEV  &  CO. 

One  of  till'  most  interesting  places  among  the  manufactories  of  Chicopee  Falls  is  the  establishment  of  Taylor, 
Bramley  &  Co.,  just  off  Grove  street.  Here  the  finest  underwear  is  turned  out,  and  new  ideas  and  designs  in  this  line  are 
constantly  being  evolved.  The  partners  are  enterprising,  and  they  intend  to  lead,  and  carry  out  their  intentions.  The 
business  to-day  is  an  illustration  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  for  it  has  been  built  up  by  the  exercise  of  courage  and  push. 
The  proprietors  are  young  men.  but  their  own  energies  have  l)rought  their  manufacturing  up  to  its  pre.sent  high  standard. 

The  firm  at  first  was  Taylor  &  Bramley,  and  was  organized  in  1888.  Men's  underwear  was  then  made  by  the  per- 
sonal labor  of  Albert  E.  Taylor  and  Walter  Bramley.  They  started  in  a  small  way,  and  were  located  in  a  room  in  the 
Lamb  Manufacturing  Co.'s  building  on  Main  street.  Mr.  Taylor  did  the  travelling,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  for  him  to 
secure  special  orders  and  come  back,  when  Messrs.  Bramley  &  Taylor  would  make  the  garments  ordered,  for  they  were 
accomplished  in  several  directions.  Only  a  few  suits  were  manufactured  each  week.  The  business  increased  so  that 
larger  (juarters  were  taken  in  1889,  and  here  they  remained  until  1891,  when  H.  Lee  Mallory,  of  New  York,  was  taken  into 
partnership,  and  the  three  story  brick  building  now  in  use  was  built.  In  1892  the  New  York  office  was  opened,  and  the 
manufacture  of  ladies"  and  misses"  underwear,  also  bloomers  and  gaiters,  was  taken  up,  making  the  finest  grades  of  worsted 
and  silk  goods.  This  shows  a  gratifying  increase  each  day,  and  the  newest  novelty  turned  out  is  the  recherche  lady's 
sweater,  a  garment  ornamental  enough  to  be  worn  by  any  stylish  woman  on  the  promenade,  and  warm  enough  to  keep 
the  circulation  up  to  the  right  point.     The  distributing  office  is  at  80  Franklin  street.  New  York. 

Albert  E.  Taylor,  son  of  ex-Mayor  Taj'lor,  promises  to  carry  out  the  good  intentions  and  public-spirited  policy  of 
his  father.  He  is  a  pronounced  Republican,  representing  Ward  Four  as  councilman  in  the  city  government  of  1895. 
He  is  master  of  Belcher  Lodge  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  an  officer  in  Unity  Chapter,  member  of  the  Springfield  Council  and  Spring- 
field Commandery,  also  member  of  Pyramid  Temple,  Mystic  Shrine,  Bridgeport,  Ct.,  and  is  active  .socially.  He  has  a 
pleasant  home  iri  "Sunny  Side,"  built  in  1895. 

Walter  Bramley,  one  of  the  leading  busine.ss  men  of  Chicopee  Falls,  is  a  native  of  Loughborough,  England.  He 
received  his  education  in  England,  came  to  America  with  his  father  and  mother,  and  worked  in  Newton  Lower  Falls. 
He  returned  to  England  in  1870  and  entered  a  factory,  remaining  until  18T8.  He  went  back  to  Newton  Lower  Falls  and 
was  employed  two  years,  then  went  toSpringlield,  where  he  took  charge  of  the  knitting  department  of  W.  fi.  Medlicott  Co. 
Eight  years  after  he  removed  to  Chicopee  Falls  and  there  became  associated  with  Mr.  Taylor  in  their  enterprise.  He  is  a 
Republican,  a  member  of  Belcher  Lodge  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  of  Unity  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  He  also  has  a  pleasant  home  at 
"Sunny  Side."    H.  Lee  Mallory  resides  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

129 


LAMB  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY. 

Among  Chicopee's  iiuportiint  industries  is  the  Lamb  Manufacturing  Company  at  Chicopee  Falls.  About  800  hands 
are  emi>loyed,  and  over  45,000  knitting  macliines  have  been  made  and  sold,  in  addition  to  the  other  business,  in  tlie  last 
twenty-five  years.  The  company  are  also  the  manufacturers  of  the  Tuttle  knitting  machines,  which  are  specially  adapted 
for  ribbed  and  plain  work,  and  under  the  name  of  the  Massachusetts  Arms  Co.  they  manufacture  the  celebrated  Maynard 
patent  breech-loading  rifles  and  sliotguns,  which  are  unexcelled  in  all  the  qualities  demanded  in  fire-arms. 

The  works,  which  are  in  the  engraving  on  next  page,  cover  an  area  of  two  acres,  and  are  finely  e(iuipped  for  the 
work  required  of  them.  Tlie  company  was  incorporated  in  18()7,  with  a  capital  of  .'^300,000,  and  the  present  officers  are: 
A.  G.  Spalding,  president;  Emerson  Gaylord,  vice-president;  T.  C.  Page,  treasurer. 

The  widely  known  and  superb  Lamb  knitting  machine,  which  has  revolutionized  the  art  of  knitting,  is  constructed 
upon  the  novel  and  simple  principle  of  employing  two  straight  jiarallel  rows  of  needles  sufficiently  near  to  each  other  to 
connect  the  two  rows  of  knitting  at  either  end,  but  far  enough  apart  to  allow  the  fabric  to  pass  down  between  them  as  it 
is  knitted.  The  needle  is  automatic  or  self-knitting,  its  principle  being  such  that,  when  fed  with  yarn  and  moved  forward 
or  backward,  it  forms  the  stitch  by  its  own  action.  It  is  the  only  plan  yet  devised  by  which  any  size  of  work,  both  tubular 
and  flat,  and  either  single,  double  or  ribbed,  can  be  produced,  and  narrowed  and  widened.  It  is  the  only  machine  that 
knits  a  regular,  right-angled  heel,  such  as  is  knit  by  hand,  that  narrows  off  the  toe,  that  knits  a  sock  or  stocking  complete, 
that  knits  mittens  and  gloves  of  any  size  without  a  seam,  that  forms  genuine  ribbed  or  seamed  work,  that  knits  the 
double,  flat  or  fancy  webs,  that  knits  an  elastic  seamed  stitch  sus]iender  with  buttonholes,  that  knits  the  afghan  stitch, 
cardigan  jacket  stitch,  fancj'  ribbed  stitch,  the  raised  jilaid  stitcli,  the  nubia  stitch,  shell  stitch,  unique  stitch,  tidy  stitch, 
etc.  Though  it  combines  greater  cai)acity  and  speed  than  any  other  knitting  machine,  yet  it  is  the  simplest,  most  reliable 
and  easiest  to  learn.  It  knits  Iiosiery,  gloves  and  mittens  of  all  sizes,  shaping  and  completing  them  in  a  sui)erior  manner. 
It  makes  the  following  garments:  Shawls,  breakfast  capes,  hoods  and  muffs,  nubias,  sacks,  undersleeves,  scarfs,  girls'  and 
boys'  suits,  undershirts,  cardigan  jackets,  drawers,  cradle  blankets,  carriage  afghans,  sashes,  wristlets,  leggins,  .smoking 
and  skating  caps,  snovvshoes,  suspenders,  pur.ses,  jjetticoats,  infants'  shirts,  counterpanes,  tidies,  watch  and  curtain  cords, 
mats,  etc.  It  also  produces  tlie  most  elegant  trimmings  for  all  its  own  articles,  such  as  jilain  ruffie,  doul)le  rufHe,  collai's, 
Ijorders,  fringes,  etc.  In  brief,  it  is  the  only  standard  machine  for  manufacturing,  and  the  only  family  knitter  which  has 
practically  demonstrated  its  utility.  The  notable  lack  of  complication,  which  destroys  the  efficiency  of  any  mechanism, 
makes  the  Lamb  knitter  not  only  the  best  machine  of  its  kind,  but  the  easiest  to  operate.  Wlien  we  take  into  consider- 
ation the  amount  of  inferior  knit  goods  with  which  tlie  market  is  Hooded,  and  the  work  involved  in  hand  knitting,  the 
popularity  of  the  Lamb  knitter  is  easily  accounted  for,  as  by  its  adoption  the  production  of  knit  garments  of  twenty 
different  kinds  is  facilitated  and  perfected  to  such  a  degree  that  a  valuable  saving  of  time,  labor  and  money  is  inevitably 
effected  ;  this  statement  a|)plies  pquallj^  well  to  either  families  or  manufacturers. 


THE   LAMB  MANUFACTURING  GO'S  WORKS. 


'3' 


The  trade  in  knit  goods  is  rapidly  increasing.  Hand  Icnitting  is  liecoming  more  obsolete  each  3'ear.  aM<l  gooil.  well- 
made  knit  goods,  that  will  take  the  jilace  of  those  made  by  hand,  .are  not  produced  in  sufficient  quantities  to  supply  the 
demand  ;  as  a  consequence  we  ttnd  many  woolen  manufacturers  who  are  now  utilizing  knitting  macliines  to  convert  the 
scraps  and  ends  of  yarn  that  accumulate  in  their  factories  into  hosiery  and  mittens.  Wherever  tlie  Lamb  knitting 
machine  hosiery  has  been  introduced  it  has  superseded  or  taken  the  preference  over  every  other  hosiery  in  the  market, 
because  it  is  precisely  the  same  as  hand  knitting. 

In  1893  A.  (x.  Spalding  &  Bros.,  of  Chicago,  New  York  and  Philadelpliia.  became  interested  in  this  company,  and  in 
addition  to  the  old  line  of  goods  the  company  has,  since  the  connection  with  the  Spaldings,  added  bicycles,  gymnasium 
goods,  skates,  golf,  and,  in  fact,  all  the  iron  and  many  of  the  wood  goods  required  for  their  immense  business,  and  the 
company,  during  the  year  ISO."),  will  turn  cmt  from  18,000  to  20,000  high  grade  bicycles,  and  an  immense  quantity  of  all  the 
other  goods  enumerated. 

THE  J.  STEVENS  ARMS  AND  TOOL  COMPANY. 

The  J.  Stevens  Arms  and  Tool  Co..  one  of  the  features  of  Chicopee  Falls,  and  tlie  reputation  of  whose  manufactures 
is  world-wide,  is  located  where  the  busy  Chicopee  river  makes  a  detour  from  its  erratic  cour.se  and  gathers  force  for  the 
ne.xt  jump  over  the  dam  below.  On  this  site  Hiram  Munger  and  a  Mr.  Cady  owned  and  operated  both  saw  and  grist 
mills.  J.  Stevens,  Asher  Bai'tlett  and  William  B.  Fay  bought  this  property  in  18IU.  and  for  a  time  operated  the  grist  mill 
and  sometimes  rented  it.     Finally  the  old  machinery  was  thrown  out  and  the  present  buildings  erected. 

Joshua  Stevens,  the  founder  of  tliis  business,  is  an  ingenious,  practical  mechanic,  and  in  18.58-.j9  was  in  the  employ 
of  Samuel  Colt,  of  Hartford.  What  is  known  as  the  We.sson  revolver  is  his  invention,  and  he  came  to  the  "  Falls"  in  184'.) 
to  engage  in  the  e.xtensive  manufacture  of  that  article.  For  this  purpose  the  ■'  Massachusetts  Arms  Co."  was  formed,  with 
a  capital  of  .STO.OOO.-  This  company  purchased  of  the  Ames  Manufacturing  Co.  the  property  afterward  occupied  liy  the 
Lamb  Manufacturing  Co.,  and  there  conducted  the  manufacture  of  pistols  for  a  few  years:  then  Mr.  Stevens,  having 
invented  a  small,  single-shot  pocket  pistol,  commenced  its  manufacture  at  its  present  location.  The  mechanical  part  under 
such  able  management,  and  the  office  and  other  detail  work  under  Mr.  Ta3'lor's  careful  administration,  soon cau.sed  the  busi- 
ness to  expand,  and  Mr.  Stevens  continued  inventing  useful  and  important  additions  to  modern  arms,  also  the  tools  for  their 
manufacture.  The  patents  cover  double-barrel  breech-loading  shotguns,  single  .shotguns,  sporting  rifles.  "  Hunter's  Pet' 
rifles,  pocket  shotguns  and  pocket  pistols;  also  small  inai/liiiiist  tools,  spring  caliper's  and  dividers,  and  doulile-lip  counter- 
sinks. 

The  history  of  firearms  is  full  of  interest  to  those  who,  putting  aside  sentimentality,  note  the  influence  of  invention 
upon  the  progress  of  the  human  race.  The  victories  gained  for  civilization  over  barbarism  during  the  past  five  centuries 
would  have  been  impossible  without  gunpowder,  for  the  vanguard  of  enlightenment  has  ever  been  few  in  numbers,  and 
only  by  force  of  superior  arms  and  discipline  has  it  been  enabled  to  gain  a  footliold  among  savages  and  plant  upon  the  .soil 

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of  new  continents  the  banners  of  progress,  culture,  intellectual  and  moral  freedom,  and  even  of  religion.  But  the  clumsy 
flint-lock  blunderbuss,  musket  and  rifle  of  even  so  recent  a  date  as  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  are  already  anti- 
quated, and  specimens  are  sought  and  treasured  as  curiosities.  The  era  of  vital  improvement  in  firearms  may  be  said  to 
have  begun  about  fifty  years  ago,  and  has  steadily  advanced  until  the  latest  styles  of  rifles  and  shot-guns  of  our  time  may 
be  safely  pronounced  practically  perfect  as  regards  range,  precision,  jienetration,  ease  and  rapidity  of  manipulation, 
strength,  durability,  lightness,  and  beauty  of  workmansliip.  while  |>rices  ai'e  remarkably  low,  excellence  considered,  as  is 
exemplified  in  the  Stevens  arms. 

The  Stevens  target  and  sporting  rifles,  pistols,  and  shot-guns  are  too  well  and  favorably  known  to  require  detailed 
description.  They  have  been  before  the  public  for  a  long  term  of  years  and  have  never  failed  to  render  satisfaction.  Im- 
provements have  been  made  in  the  method  and  style  of  construction  from  time  to  time,  until  these  arms  may  be  fairly 
pronounced  the  marksman's  and  sportsman's  we phts  (tttra,  used  everywhere  in  this  and  foreign  countries,  and  tlie  most 
perfect  weapons  for  practice  and  sporting  purposes  ever  devised. 

In  January,  189(1,  Mr.  I.  H.  Page  bought  the  stock  held  by  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Taylor,  the  latter  gentlemen  retir- 
ing, and  Mr.  Page  assumed  entire  control,  acting  as  president  and  treasurer.  Associated  with  him  is  Charles  P.  Fay,  son 
of  William  B.  Fay,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  business  and  inventer  of  the  Fay  Caliper  and  Divider,  who  acts  in  the  im. 
pnrtant  capacity  of  master  mechanic.  Mr.  Page  has  been  connected  with  the  business  for  seventeen  years,  eight  of  which 
as  secretary,  and  his  recognized  busine.ss  ability  insures  the  continued  success  and  prosperity  of  tlie  firm  which  has  so 
long  and  honoi'able  a  record.     [See  frontispiece  for  illustration  of  buildings.] 

THE  SPAULDING  &  PEPPER  COMPANY. 

The  youngest  manufacturing  <-ompany  in  Chicopee  is  the  Spaulding  &  Pepper  Co.,  manufacturers  of  general  rubl)er 
goods,  with  a  specialty  of  pneumatic  tires  for  bicj-cles,  and  other  rubber  |)arts  used  in  the  cycling  trade.  This  company 
was  formed  early  in  the  spring  of  1895,  and  in  June  commenced  the  erection  of  their  factory,  which  is  located  at  the  foot 
of  Oak  street,  in  Chicojjee  Falls  The  plant  consists  of  a  brick  building  three  stories  in  height,  100x50  feet  in  dimensions, 
together  with  a  one-story  building,  100  x  40  feet.  The  mechanical  equii)ment  consists  of  a  200-horse  power  Slater  engine, 
two  Hennessy  boilers  of  150-horse  power  each.  They  also  have  a  washer,  three  mixing  mills.  40  x  16  fe»t,  one  mixer,  fiO  x  20 
feet,  one  three-roll  calender,  four  hydraulic  pre-sses,  one  vulcanizer,  and  their  own  machine  shop.  The  rubber  machinery 
was  furnished  by  the  Farrel  Foundry  &  Machine  Co.  The  mill  is  thus  thoroughly  equipped  with  all  appliances  for  making 
at  least  1,300  tires  every  working  day.  The  work  in  the  mill  was  started  about  the  middle  of  September,  and  has  been  in 
active  operation  on  orders  since. 

The  president  of  the  company,  Mr.  Thos.  H.  Spaulding,  of  New  York,  is  well  and  favorably  known  in  the  trade, 
being  connected,  as  he  is,  with  the  large  steel  house  of  Spaulding,  Jennings  &  Co.,  of  Jersey  City,  and  also  proprietor  of 
the  Spaulding  Machine  Screw  Co.,  of  Buffalo.     He  is  an  able,  energetic  man,  of  large  business  experience.     The  treasurer 


THE   SPAULDING  &   PEPPER   CO.'S  WORKS. 


of  the  companj-,  wlio  is  also  manager,  Mr.  C.  L.  Pepper,  is  a  Chicopt-e  boy,  having  been  born  on  Grajie  street,  in  Chicopee 
Centre.  He  commenced  his  business  career  as  office  boy  in  the  Ames  Mfg.  Co.,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  some 
years  ;  was  afterwards  paymaster,  and  then  acting  agent  of  that  company.  He  was  employed  by  them  for  something 
like  eighteen  years,  and  left  them  to  accept  the  position  as  superintendent  of  the  Overman  Wheel  Co.  when  they  started 
their  factory  at  Chicopee  Falls.  When  he  assumed  his  position  with  the  Overman  Wheel  Co.  they  employed  four  men. 
He  served  them  in  the  capacity  of  general  superintendent  for  eight  years,  and  when  he  left  them  the  company  employed 
something  over  twelve  hundred  i>eoiile.  Tlie  superintendent  is  Mr.  H.  A.  Middleton.  wlio  is  well  and  favorabh'  known  in 
the  trade. 

The  factory  is  running  on  a  line  of  single  tube  tires  of  s-ix  or  eight  different  styles.  They  are  making  a  specialty  of 
the  puncture  jiroof  tire,  the  combined  invention  of  Messrs.  Pepper  and  Middleton,  which  they  consider  will  prove  to  be 
very  taking  with  the  trade.  They  have  also  arranged  with  the  L.  C.  Smith  Tire  Co.,  of  Syracuse,  for  the  control  of  the 
production  and  selling  of  the  celebrated  L.  C.  Smith  detachable  tire,  and  have  taken  a  license  from  the  Gormully  & 
Jeffery  Co.  to  make  the  G.  &  J.  detachable  tire. 


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